Writings: How Is Your Lamp?

By: Dr. Gregory S. Neal

“Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Matthew 25:13)

When I was a kid my Dad and I liked to go on fishing and camping trips; I would take along a book or some comics and when it was time for bed I would get into my sleeping bag, cover my head, turn on my flashlight, and read. That usually lasted only about twenty minutes before I became sleepy and would turn off the flashlight, but on more than one occasion I can remember not turning off the flashlight before falling asleep; as a result, my batteries ran down to nothing and I had to ask Dad for extra batteries the next night. Dad always gave them to me, but I do remember him chiding me about wasting them by falling asleep with the flashlight on. On later trips, and when I was an adult, I always brought extra batteries so that I would be prepared if that happened again.

Be prepared! That’s also the Boy Scout motto. Be prepared for those contingencies you normally wouldn’t expect; it’s not easy, but you can at least try. In the parable from Matthew 25:1- 13, five of the ten bridesmaids came prepared: they had brought extra oil for their lamps; they even had enough for the unlikely event that the bridegroom would be delayed. And, he was ... he was delayed until midnight! The other five bridesmaids weren’t prepared for a long wait. They had enough oil in their lamps to keep them lit had the bridegroom been on time, and probably enough for a short delay, but they didn’t have enough for a long wait. And, so, when the bridegroom finally showed up at midnight they had run out of oil! They begged those with extra oil to let them have some but were refused. At first it doesn’t seem very nice of those who had come prepared – they should share, shouldn’t they? “No!” Their reply was: “Then there won’t be enough for you and for us. Go buy some and come back.” Why were they so stingy? Why were they so mean? Hold on to that question for a moment, and we’ll come back to it.

Those who were ready – who had extra oil – got their lamps refilled and lit before escorting the bridegroom into the wedding banquet. Those who were not ready – who didn’t have extra oil – went to buy some more, though where they were going to buy some at midnight is a good question. Indeed, since the parable doesn’t actually say that they managed to purchase any oil, many scholars have speculated that they didn’t have any. Rather, they just tried to crash the banquet anyway ... kind of like the guy without the wedding robe who got tossed out in the Matthew 22 parable.

‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ (Matthew 25:11)

The bridegroom’s response to their plea to be let in makes it sound like they weren’t able to find oil: they simply were not ready, and so he didn’t recognize them as bridesmaids.

There are a couple of things that we can learn from this parable. Firstly, and as you might expect, is the calling to “be prepared.” That’s actually the essential meaning of verse 13:

“Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

We should realize that they are not really being criticized for falling asleep. The parable indicates in verse 5 that they all had become drowsy and had fallen asleep. But half of them were prepared for that possibility, the other half weren’t, and that’s the focus. “Keeping awake” is a euphemism for being ready. There’s literal alertness, and then there’s adequate preparation. All had slept, but only those who were not otherwise prepared for the delay were rejected.

This is a parable of the Kingdom of Heaven and describes the conditions at the second coming. The bridegroom is, of course, Jesus at his return; the bridesmaids are us ... the church. It’s interesting to note that half of them didn’t get in at the end of the story. I don’t like that and don’t want that for any of us. That being said, our friends in those churches that say: “once saved, always saved” should really take note of the warning. They all had lamps; they all had oil; they all were bridesmaids ... it’s just that half of them didn’t have enough oil for a long wait. So, be prepared!

The second thing we can learn from this parable is that the wait is going to be long. And it has been a very long wait, hasn’t it? The New Testament Church had an immediate expectation for the return of Christ. The Apostle Paul, for instance, often talked about the second coming of Jesus as if it were going to be happening “next Tuesday.” However, they also knew that the timing of Christ’s return was shrouded in mystery, and this passage from Matthew’s Gospel reflects that expectation:

“Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Matthew 25:13)

We’ve waited nearly two thousand years for the second coming, and for all we know we could be waiting for another couple millennia. However, that won’t stop some people from prognosticating about the return of Christ. The years 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033 will all be important ones in the life of the church. Lots of preachers will be speculating about the return of Jesus happening around the 2000th anniversary of his death and resurrection. Indeed, lots of money will be made by those who will write books on this subject, making those kinds of predictions and setting any of those years as dates! Hmmm ... now that’s not a bad idea! I could significantly pad my retirement investments by doing that, couldn’t I? I could entitle my next book:

The 33 Reasons Why Jesus Will Return In 2033

and make a bundle! Right? No! I’m not going to do that. It would not only be wrong, it would be a violation of this very passage: “Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

“Greg, it says neither the day nor the hour, it doesn’t say anything about the year! And, there are a lot of gullible people out there that you could sell such a book to!”

Please, don’t tempt me! We don’t know; we will never know in advance. People who are talking about that time as if it were now don’t know, and if they tell you they do know, they’re lying to you. The parable’s warning is a simple one, and one that we must take note of, especially today: be prepared for a long wait.

Now, let’s go back to the earlier question about the five bridesmaids who came prepared with extra oil but who refused to share any it with those who didn’t have enough. I think we would all agree that their response doesn’t sound fair. It doesn’t sound right! They don’t sound very Christian, do they? They should have shared! Right!?

I wish they could have shared, and they might have wished they could have shared, but it’s important for us to realize that they couldn’t share. Your preparation won’t work for someone else. You can’t really prepare for another; each person has to prepare for themselves. Keep in mind, this preparation isn’t a physical thing: the oil is a metaphor for having adequate spiritual discipline, for being aware, for being ready, for being patient. The preparation is the exercise of one’s faith, even in the face of the bridegroom’s delay. We can share God’s love, we can share God’s presence, we can share God’s grace, but we can’t make someone else believe and we can’t believe for them. We have to be prepared. We cannot depend upon the preparation of others, and they can’t give it to us at the last moment. Others can help us grow in faith; they can lead us in developing the spiritual disciplines that we need for life in the Kingdom of Heaven, but we have to exercise those disciplines and practice our faith in order for our lamps to burn brightly.
So ... how’s your lamp? Is it burning brightly? Do you have enough oil, enough spiritual discipline, enough grace and faith to keep it burning all night long? How’s your lamp doing?

© 2020, Dr. Gregory S. Neal
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