Of the three synoptic gospels – so called because they follow a broad outline or synopsis of Jesus life – Matthew’s is the most Old Testament in feel with its frequent dichotomies of inclusion and exclusion, praise and judgement. Matthew’s depiction of Jesus lacks the urgent and accessible humanity of Mark’s presentation and comes nowhere near to the pastoral and social sensitivity of Luke’s portrayal. Matthew’s Jesus is modelled on the image of a new Moses. Jesus is more elevated and detached – more guru like – a figure above the fray at whose feet the disciples gather to be inaugurated into the Kingdom of God.

Today we are presented by the Lectionary with the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. Already the English translation of the female wedding attendants as virgins sets a particular patriarchal tone – as in virgins are better than non-virgins because they are virginal – meaning unsullied. A better rendering might be bridesmaids – which immediately carries a more neutral – less morally colored inference. The other thing to note is that this parable is unique to Matthew and is one of his Parables of the Kingdom.

Matthew is fond of using the wedding as the metaphor for the kingdom of God. At first sight we can see what he’s getting at. Like a wedding – the kingdom is a place of celebration and merriment. But Matthew’s wedding metaphor carries a starker inclusion -exclusion message. Weddings are celebrations only for those who are invited – or those who accept the invitation. Matthew’s parables of the kingdom all end with a warning – usually of severe punishment for those who are excluded or exclude themselves from the kingdom. Images of outer darkness with much wailing and gnashing of teeth abound. Thus themes of inclusion and exclusion lie close to the heart of Matthew’s kingdom parables.  Reading back into the historical context in which he’s writing, themes of inclusion and exclusion attest to a central struggle between two new movements in Jewish religious life. From the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD – Rabbinic Judaism and the Early Church – both fresh and vital shoots – struggled to emerge from under the ashes of temple-centered Jewish religious life.

Matthew’s tones of harsh punishment for those excluded – echo the struggle to define tribal identity. In tribal societies – like that of ancient Israel – and Matthew’s contested context in the final decades of the 1st-century AD – everyone inside the tribe are friends and those outside it are foe. We should not be surprised to find today similar themes afflicting much of contemporary white, rightwing, evangelical messaging – which has regressed to a tribal identity. For this reason alone, Matthew’s message of judgement often jars upon those of us with a more contemporary, progressive, Christian ear.

At the end of the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids Matthew sternly warns: Keep awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour”.

Of course, no one knows what the future will hold. We develop a tendency to anticipate events based on what we already know about life. Sometimes experience is an accurate guide, yet more often it’s misleading. Facing the uncertainties of the future armed only with a partial – often misremembered recollection of the past – only makes us even more anxious.

We alleviate our anxiety with the illusion of being prepared, and consequently we live a good portion of our lives caught up in a process of attempting to anticipate all eventualities – inducing in us a perpetual and neurotic wakefulness.  No wonder many of us no longer sleep well. The problem with anticipation of an assumed dangerous future is that it encourages risk aversion in life. Life lived circumscribed by past experience may ofer the illusion of a predictable future but it’s a very, very unsatisfying experience!

In our society we reserve our harshest judgments for those who fail the Boy Scout test to be prepared!  How easily the phrases: well, it’s his own fault, or, she has no one to blame but herself, or, its time they really took responsibility for themselves trip lightly off our tongues. To such persons regardless of gender do we not think: oh, what a foolish virgin you’ve been! You see being found unprepared is an American sin.

Matthew’s parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids has three themes worth closer inspection.

The first is the stereotypical treatment of women. There would have been quite a number of invited wedding guests – men as well as women – so why does Matthew focus his treatment on a group of women? He seems to be playing upon the stereotyping of women into two groups – to put into modern parlance the sensible housewife or foolish, if not downright dangerous, women driver.

Motifs of virtue and shame are woven throughout this parable. We are not strangers to this denigration of women – today a prevalent theme underpinning conservative (mostly male) hostility to women owning control of their own bodies as compared with so called virtuous women who accept male expectations for both the control as well as the exploitation of their bodies.

Secondly, Matthew presents a group of people who have no sense of solidarity or a commitment to support and aid one another. Instead, the wise bridesmaids, gloat over their sisters’ foolish lack of preparedness. Likewise motivated by our fears of scarcity we exclaim – of course I want to share my surplus with you, but I can’t because – who knows what the future may bring – I might need all of it.

The lamp oil is a symbol for scarcity –reinforcing our prevalent scarcity worldview in which there is only so much to go around.  In a culture of scarcity, you keep what you have by not sharing it with others. Within a worldview that sees resources as limited, the pie is only so big – people of necessity are divided into the haves and the have-nots. At St. Martin’s like the wise bridesmaids there is no mistaking that we are among the haves when the world is viewed from the perspective of scarcity.

This past year we’ve put the resources of our successful capital campaign to good use – by which I mean uses over and beyond the perpetual drain on resources that maintaining this historic church requires of us. This past year we’ve been especially mindful of our responsibility to share what we have with others who can benefit from our support. I happen to believe that through being generous we become the net beneficiaries of our own generosity. Generous action reminds us of our ultimate dependency upon divine providence. Unlike the wise bridesmaids we discover again and again that only when our giving flows generously from our commitment to one another do we encounter the depths of our gratitude for God’s gracious providential love towards us.

In a season of stewardship renewal, we are well reminded that money is like water. Water sustains life only when it is allowed to flow freely. When dammed up it becomes stagnant – poisoning the ground around it.

Weddings are one metaphor of the kingdom. Baptism is another. In a moment we will welcome a new member through baptism into the fellowship of the kingdom of God as embodied in our St. Martin’s community. Baptism reminds us that preparedness and self-sufficiency do not qualify us for entry to the kingdom. Willingness to respond to the invitation of grace is all that is required. Will not Christ welcome us his church and bride – regardless of our state of un-preparedness? For whom can be prepared for such a life changing encounter.

Matthew’s injunction to stay awake is an odd conclusion. This isn’t a parable about staying awake – after all, all the bridesmaids fell asleep. Matthew’s gripe is that half of them were found unprepared for the grooms return. In this there is an aspersion of something shameful. What is their shame? It’s the shame of failing to be self-sufficient. We all know that failure to be self-sufficient is the real American sin. A sin to us – but not to Jesus.