Reading: Matthew 25: 1-13 (Click to read text)
Reflection: Give me oil in my lamp, keep it burning for the Lord! Give me oil in my lamp, I pray. Hallelujah! Give me oil in my lamp, keep it burning for the Lord! Keep it burning ‘til the break of day. Refrain: Sing hosanna, sing hosanna, sing hosanna to the King of kings! Sing hosanna, sing hosanna, sing hosanna to the King! That’s the way we sing it at camp. Checking around the internet I found other versions, but this is the one Camp Mount Luther folks know. (Are you humming the tune yet?) It’s also a pretty good cardio vascular workout because we skip and dance around the dining hall on the refrain. (I don’t imagine that you are dancing—maybe you are!!) When I read today’s biblical text, I had one of those moments. “Hey, that’s the text for ‘Give Me Oil!’” It is such a difficult text, set in the midst of Jesus’ words about end times in Matthew. The parable is clearly about being alert, expecting the coming of the Lord. It has been such a long time, this waiting and watching. Who could blame of us for doubting that Jesus is coming? I’d like to share the thoughts of Carla Works about this passage. Readers today may find themselves secretly sympathetic to the foolish maidens. Does the church really live as though the bridegroom's arrival is certain? Some have become caught up in trying to determine the day and the hour, while others have let their lamps run out. To live in vigilance means for the disciples to do the tasks that they have been appointed to do in preparation for the Master's coming. In Matthew's Gospel, those tasks include bearing witness to God's kingdom by welcoming the stranger, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and imprisoned (25:31-46), and making disciples in all the world (28:19-20). Yes, keep expecting Jesus to come. When He comes he will find us faithfully doing what we are expected to do. Doing those ministries is what it means to have oil in our burning lamps looking for the certain arrival of the bridegroom. Or to quote another verse that we sing: Give me gas for my Ford, keep me trucking for the Lord. --Jim Bricker, Chaplain to Camp Mount Luther’s Summer Staff
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