Matthew 25.1-13 Version 2

ARE YOU READY?

Matthew 25.1-13

Some years ago, my wife worked with a nursing colleague who was diagnosed as having terminal cancer. Regrettably, the medical profession had initially refused to take her seriously. By the time she was finally diagnosed it was too late. The cancer was too far gone to be operable and she was given only a few weeks to live.

What impressed me most about this woman was the way she responded to her situation.

She did not resign from work and go home to be eaten up with self-pity. She did not express her anger towards God for being cheated out of life. Nor did she write a letter of protest to the press about the shortcomings of the medical profession.

No. She continued to nurse and give comfort and support to those in her charge even though she knew she was dying.

In particular, she sat up all of one night beside the bed of a patient who had a similar illness and upon whom the same surgeon was due to operate the following day. She sat and listened to the patient’s doubts and fears and she gave her hope and assurance, never at any time revealing her own state of health. Meanwhile, in her home she taught her husband and children how to shop, cook, clean and do their own washing.

Her final days upon earth were full of thoughts about others as she prepared for her own imminent departure from their lives.

In some respects, she was perhaps fortunate, insofar as she knew the approximate time of her departure from this life. For most of us, it remains sometime in the future, and we often hope and pray, in the far distant future. So we tend to put off till tomorrow what we know we should do today.

The result is that we tend to live rather messy lives with lots of loose ends that often need tying up.

This is dangerous for two reasons. Firstly we never know the exact time of our death. We may well be fortunate enough to have ample warning, but more often than not it is sudden and unexpected. Then it is often too late to tie up those loose ends of our lives.

I am not talking about material possessions for which we can make provision in our last Will and Testament, but rather about relationships. Relationships with each other.

The word of praise which remains unspoken; the hurt which is allowed to fester; the love withheld, the joy unexpressed; the difference of opinion never resolved; the misunderstanding never clarified; the good intention never pursued; the opportunity never utilised; the challenge never accepted and the time never redeemed.

Each of us as we sit here now, have so much unfinished business. We seem reluctant to face the temporary nature of our existence upon this earth and prefer to put off till tomorrow, that which we know should be done today.

Secondly, it is also dangerous because we are already developing the character by which we shall ultimately be judged at the end of time. You see, judgement is not something which occurs in the far distant future but is something which has already begun.

The disagreement at present unresolved is already making us into an unforgiving person: the praise withheld is already making us into an ungrateful person; and the love not shown is already making us into an unloving person. The character by which we shall ultimately be judged is already being formed in this life and is beginning to determine, not only our final destiny, but also more importantly our future relationships with other people upon this earth.

Jesus was fully aware of our human predicament. He clearly saw the human failure to take seriously the consequences of our actions and to act now. His heart went out to people, like us, who were already beginning to dig their own grave in this life by putting off till tomorrow, what needed to be done today.

So in much of his teaching, expressed primarily through parables, he sought to make us aware of the temporary nature of our existence and the need to live our lives in a permanent state of readiness.

For instance, we have one such parable in Matthew 25.1-13.

It concerns five foolish and five wise girls awaiting the coming of the bridegroom. Five had only the oil they had in their lamps, whilst the other five, knowing that there could well be a delay, took with them some extra supplies of oil. As chance would have it, the bridegroom was delayed and so the oil ran out in five of the lamps and these missed out on the wedding feast. So Jesus utters the severe warning to them and to us: "Keep awake then; for you never know the day or the hour".

This parable, reminds us of the unpredictability of life and the need, therefore, always to live in a state of readiness.

Mary of Orange, who became Queen of England in 1687, was asked by her Chaplain, just before she was about to die: "Shall I come and say prayers with you?''. She replied, "My friend, I did not leave this matter till this hour".

May we not leave the matter of tying up those loose ends of our life to the final hour of departure from this mortal life, whenever that may be.

Let me conclude with the words of a prayer that is used in the funeral service:

Grant us Lord, the wisdom and the grace to use aright the time that is left to us here on earth. Lead us to repent of our sins, the evil we have done and the good we have not done, and strengthen us to follow in the steps of your Son, in the way that leads to the fullness of life, through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.