CHECK
YOUR OIL
MATTHEW
25.1-13
NOVEMBER
9, 2008
WESLEY
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Douglas
Norris
Five
were foolish and five were wise. In Jesus’ parable, there were ten
bridesmaids waiting for the groom to come. We are not sure about the
wedding customs of that day, but we think that at some point in the
ceremony (which probably took days), the groom came to the bride’s
home, and a feast was held. The bridesmaids would greet the groom
with lamps.
What
made five foolish and five wise was not how they were dressed, or
their lamps. What made the difference is that five had oil in
reserve, and five had come unprepared. The groom was late. They
fell asleep, and five were not prepared for the long wait. They ran
out of oil. Five were prepared, and five were dim wits!
Be
prepared is the theme of this parable. Be prepared so you can live
without anxiety knowing that you have enough oil in your lamp. When
I was a child, my grandparents did not have electricity. They used
kerosene lamps. So, check the kerosene supply. Check your oil.
Check your spiritual resources.
Be
prepared. How can you keep your lamp full so you are prepared to
live each day without anxiety, without worrying about your lamp
running out of oil, with having enough spiritual reserves to see you
through? Let us look at some suggestions to help us live our lives
each day to the fullest, with a lamp full of oil, full of spiritual
reserves.
Undergird
each day with prayer. Give the day to God. Ask for the Holy Spirit
to lead and guide you. Breathe deeply. Throughout the day, I have
learned to take deep breaths and pray, “Fill me with your Spirit,
Lord.” Take moments throughout the day to get in touch with God,
to take yourself out of the stress, away from the problems, away from
the busy-ness of the day.
Richard
Carlson, author of Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, a book which
inspired this message, has discovered a ritual that helps him. He
wrote, “On my way home from work, as I get close to my driveway, I
pull my car over and stop. There is a nice spot where I can spend a
minute or two looking at the view or closing my eyes and breathing.
It slows me down and helps me feel centered and grateful.” Instead
of speeding into his driveway with the radio blaring in his ears, he
enters his home feeling much more relaxed.
Pascal,
French philosopher, mathematician and physicist, said, “All of
humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a
room alone.” Perhaps he exaggerates, but he makes a valid point.
Take time to sit quietly. Take time to breathe.
Breathe
“Fill me with your Spirit, Lord” before you speak. Usually, we
listen with half an ear to what the other person is saying, forming
our response, and sometimes even interrupting before the speaker
finishes. Breathe before replying. The speaker will be surprised to
be able to finish his/her thought. The speaker will feel listened
to, and you will not be as rushed. You will have had a moment to
formulate your response, and you will be much more relaxed. In fact,
go further and give up your turn. Don’t grab the spotlight; don’t
demand attention on you and your ideas. Don’t compete. Instead,
say, “How interesting. Tell me more.”
Instead
of worrying about your response, expect to learn something from the
other. You’ll be far less annoyed and frustrated by the actions
and imperfections of other people. Do you get annoyed? Rather than
asking, “Why is she doing this?” ask “What can I learn?” Do
you get annoyed with a slow checkout clerk in the grocery store?
While you are waiting, learn to be patient. Breathe deeply. Maybe
the clerk is having a bad day. Maybe her feet hurt! How would you
like to stand all day long?
Seek
first to understand. A couple spent the first ten years of their
marriage arguing about their finances. He couldn’t understand why
she wanted to save every penny they earned, and she couldn’t
understand why he wanted to spend and spend. Then they learned to
stop interrupting each other, and to listen to what the other was
saying. He learned that she was saving to avoid her parents’
financial disasters. She was afraid of going broke. She learned
that he bought things because he was afraid he couldn’t take care
of her as well as his father took care of his mother. He wanted to
buy her things. He wanted her to be proud of him.
Keep
your lamp full of oil by living in the moment. Don’t deplete your
spiritual reserves by wringing your hands over yesterday, or by
worrying about tomorrow. Jesus said, Matthew 6.34, “Do not worry
about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s
trouble is enough for today.” When you focus on past problems and
future concerns, you will be anxious, frustrated, and depressed;
depleting your spiritual reserves. Live in the present. Mark Twain
said, “I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of
which actually happened.” Don’t make up worries.
Don’t
deplete your spiritual reserves by trying to be perfect. Live with
your imperfections. Do you know any perfectionist who has inner
peace? Perfectionists fret, fume, worry, and drive you batty as well
as themselves. When my wife is concerned with her hair, or a wrinkle
in my shirt, or a spot on the rug, we remind each other of the old
saying, “If you can't see it while riding by on a horse, forget
it!” Don’t fret yourself into a stew. Instead, ask yourself,
will this matter a year from now? Is this situation really as
important as I’m making it out to be?
Speaking
of getting yourself into a stew and becoming anxious, have you heard
the saying, “Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today?”
What a bunch of nonsense. Too many stressed out Americans
frantically push themselves. Keeping oil in your lamp doesn’t mean
getting everything done in a day. It isn’t as important to get it
all done, as it is to enjoy each step along the way! Be patient.
Prioritize.
In
fact, allow yourself to be bored! I recall how as a child I was
often bored. There were no children my age in the neighborhood. I
would swing, make up stories, and then act them out, all by myself,
playing all the characters. Productive, creative boredom. We
Americans have a difficult time accepting boredom. We keep children
and youth so busy it seems as if we think it is a sin to be bored.
When a child does say, “Mom, I’m bored,” don't find something
for him/her to do, but say, “Be glad. Enjoy it.” Someone said,
“People are no longer human beings; we are human doings.” Take
time to be; don’t do all the time. It is okay to just sit. It is
okay to be bored. It is okay to be quiet. It is good to meditate.
It is good to sit, breathe, and pray.
Let
God lead. Keep your lamp full, replenish your spiritual reserves by
depending on God. Give your life to God. Give God your problems,
worries, concerns, all that makes you anxious. Let God solve the
problems. Put the problems on the back burner, so to speak. Let
them sit on low heat for awhile. Let God work on the problems; you
don’t have to do it all by yourself. I have gone to sleep many
nights to wake up in the morning with an idea or a solution. God and
my sub-conscious mind did the work. A few weeks ago I was struggling
with the Sunday message, and decided to get my mind off it. I went
for a walk and two blocks away, the message fell into place. I
suppose you think I should have kept walking!
Keep
your lamp full of oil by being alert for opportunities to do God’s
work, without fanfare and the need for recognition. A popular saying
a few years ago, and a friend gave us coffee mugs with the message,
was, “Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of
beauty.” Get in touch with the joy of giving without expecting
anything in return. Some people began paying the bridge tolls of the
cars immediately behind them. The driver would approach the ticket
booth with outstretched bills only to be told, “Your toll has been
paid by the car ahead of you.” Imagine the impact—the surprise,
the joy, the gratitude, and perhaps the desire to do something
likewise. Mother Teresa said, “We cannot do great things on this
earth. We can only do small things with great love.” Spread
cheer, warmth and love wherever and whenever you can.
Another
suggestion, once a week write a letter of appreciation. I have
received such letters and they truly make my day. The letter doesn’t
have to be long or a work of art. Write it from your heart. For
example, “Dear So and So, I woke up this morning thinking of how
blessed I am to have you in my life. Thank you for being my friend.
I wish for you all the happiness and joy that life can bring.”
Write to a relative, a former teacher, a neighbor, an elected
official. I wonder how many letters of thanks our politicians
receive! Not only write letters, but tell people how you appreciate
them—clerks in stores, policemen, fire fighters, custodians. As I
thought about this, I told myself to write a letter to the custodial
service that cleans the church facilities. I am impressed with the
good job they do. I wrote the letter and mailed it.
Finally,
imagine yourself at your own funeral. What will be said by your
family and friends during the time of sharing? What will the pastor
say about you? What would you like to be said? Look back at your
life while you still have time to make some changes. In the final
analysis, what is really important? Then, check your oil. Are you
doing what you think is important? Are you replenishing your
spiritual supply, your oil, by taking time for prayer, quiet time,
breathing time, even boredom? Are you letting God help solve your
problems? Are you generous? Have you quit trying to be perfect,
trying to do everything asked of you? Are you living in the moment?
Are you practicing random acts of kindness?
Check
your oil.
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