The story in today\u2019s Gospel that Jesus told his earliest followers about wise and foolish virgins \u2014 is a story about vigilance and values, a story of surprise and response and the judgment of consequences. The story comes from another place, another culture, and another time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How could this story of wise virgins and foolish virgins possibly be relevant to us \u2014 Americans, Episcopalians \u2014 in the 21st century? How could such a strange story be relevant to people of our day?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, we know, as perhaps never before in our national history, of the importance of military security and vigilance. The fearful possibility of military surprise drives today\u2019s obsessional concern for ever more sophisticated and deadly weapons systems as surely as it shapes the distorted and simplistic immorality of hit them before they hit us-of destroy them before they destroy us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vigilance, values, surprise, and judgment<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we do so poorly with fear and surprise and judgment as a nation, how do we do with fear and surprise and judgment as individuals?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course we know that each of us is shaped by our genetic heritage, our experience, and by our values. We know that we bring this \u201cliving package\u201d of genes, memories, and values called \u201cme\u201d to every encounter \u2014 with another person and with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How is it between you and me? What\u2019s important to me? What\u2019s important to you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To what extent can I tolerate the possibility of your surprises? To what extent can I trust you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Jesus told the story of the wise and foolish virgins, it may be as the creed puts it, he was thinking of eschatological and apocalyptic things, of when \u201cHe will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.\u201d It might also be, on the other hand, that he was thinking of the judgmental dimension of every human encounter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What I say and do now with you can never be unsaid or undone. What you say and what you do now with me can never be unsaid or undone. If these sayings and doings are not what we wish them to be \u2014 as is so often the case, at least in my experience \u2014 they can be regretted, they can be reshaped, they can be rethought, they can be grieved, and they can \u2014 I am happy to know \u2014 be forgiven and forgotten \u2014 even if I forget to say, \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Jesus told the story of the wise and foolish virgins, it may be that he was thinking of the last judgment, but maybe he was thinking of the first judgment: \u201cby the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man\u201d \u2014 born a baby in Bethlehem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An old priest was busy giving out Sunday School attendance certificates and did not see little Rebecca when she left the back pew where her mother and brother were sitting and headed for the front of the church. The old priest did not hear her when she first called his name from the middle of the aisle a third of the way up, \u201cFather John!\u201d The old priest whom she loved and trusted did not hear or see Rebecca when she called his name from half way up the aisle, \u201cFather John!\u201d Finally when Rebecca was standing directly in front of the old priest, he heard her and so did everyone else in the church. The service stopped and Rebecca said, \u201cFather John, look at this. Look what I can do. Listen to this!\u201d In the silence of the hushed and expectant church three year old Rebecca snapped her little fingers three times: click, click, click. The whole church laughed. Father John snapped his fingers with Rebecca and a parishioner from Africa said, \u201cIn my country we praise God by snapping our fingers.\u201d And the whole congregation snapped their fingers in praise and thanksgiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you welcome children?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you protect children?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you care for children?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are questions that judge the culture \u2013 then and now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are questions that judge the church \u2013 then and now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the bridegroom comes, these will be his questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The story in today\u2019s Gospel that Jesus told his earliest followers about wise and foolish virgins \u2014 is a story about vigilance and values, a story of surprise and response and the judgment of consequences. The story comes from another place, another culture, and another time. How could this story of wise virgins and foolish…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201212,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43,52,33,1953],"tags":[113],"class_list":["post-511372","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-27a"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":1953,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":113,"label":"Proper 27A"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":951066,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511372\/revisions\/951066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}