2023 11 12 Sermon
Focusing on the Big Picture
Pentecost 24A
Amos 5:18-24; Matthew 25:1-13
Rev. Karl-John N. Stone
If Yogi Bear, the beloved cartoon character, is “smarter than the average bear”, then Yogi Berra, the beloved former baseball player, is smarter than the average ballplayer. He may have won 5 World Series as a player, earned 3 Most Valuable Player Awards, and been enshrined in the Hall of Fame. But he may be best known for his way with words. He had a way of twisting the English language in ways that sound foolish at first, but upon further reflection end up being full of wisdom. Things like “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over” or “The future ain’t what it used to be”. When someone asked him how he came up with this stuff, he responded “It just comes out that way. I don’t even know I say ‘em myself. I really don’t.” [ https://www.mlb.com/news/yogisms-best-yogi-berra-sayings ]
We’ve learned from Yogi Berra about travel: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it”, and economics: “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore”. But I think his most insightful proverb is this: “Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.” Let’s see…90% plus 50% equals 140%...ah, forget about it. He wasn’t trying to re-write the laws of mathematical equations; he was highlighting the need to focus on what is truly important, and then (while keeping your mental focus) also putting yourself physically in the best position to make a difference. Yogi was a talented catcher and great hitter, even if he wasn’t the biggest, fastest, or strongest. I’ve seen it so many times in so many sports—the player who makes the biggest difference is not necessarily the best athlete, but the one who mentally keeps focusing on the big picture, and therefore is physically able to be in the right place at the right time to make the play that counts.
And this has something to do with our two very challenging scripture readings for today. We hear harsh words from the prophet Amos: “Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!” What was “the day of the Lord”? This refers to the glorious time in the future when all who opposed God would be vanquished. Of course, the people of God during the days of Amos were really looking forward to this! But here is Amos warning the people: hold on…you know the future’s not what it used to be, right? You’ve been waiting for the day when God will set the world right, but you don’t realize that you’ve already put yourself on the wrong side of God! It’s not that you don’t believe in God. You do believe. And it’s not that you don’t offer your worship and praise; you do. It’s because God has blessed you, and you keep these blessings all to yourself.
Amos is offering a warning to the people, but his harsh words do not mean that God hates you or wants you to suffer. God still loves you—and because God loves you, “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” God’s trying to get your attention, so that you’ll start focusing on what’s truly important. You won’t just sit there waiting for the day of the Lord to come one day in the future, to bail the world out of whatever trouble its in. You’ll start finding ways of looking beyond yourself, and focusing on the big picture of building a healthier society today. Amos is saying: God is not going to set the world right when God’s people are not focused on “letting justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
In the Bible, justice and righteousness are evaluated by looking at how the most vulnerable, least fortunate members of society are cared for. How are they doing? This is very challenging stuff, and not just in biblical times. All we have to do today is drive up 27th Street and wonder, “Who is living in all of those motels?” How many children? How many homeless? How many chronically hungry, or severely mentally ill? There’s no easy answers to fix things, but God, through the prophet Amos, is asking us to keep asking these kinds of questions, so that we focus on that big picture of righteousness and justice, until God opens a door at the right time and right place for us to help make a difference.
You might say that Amos was telling us to “Keep awake”, similar to the point Jesus was making at the conclusion of the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids. “Keep awake,” he said, “for you know neither the day nor the hour” when the Kingdom of God shall draw near. Jesus isn’t telling us to never sleep, or to be just look busy for the sake of being busy. He’s encouraging us to keep our minds focused on the big picture, and to keep our bodies positioned to follow Jesus, so that we can enjoy the blessings of God’s kingdom when he opens the door for us—and then we can share God’s blessings with others.
In the parable, the Ten Bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the Bridegroom. The 5 foolish ones took no extra oil for their lamps, and the 5 wise ones did take extra oil. But the Bridegroom was delayed—kind of like how Jesus did not return immediately after he ascended into heaven. This is what so many of the earliest Christians expect to happen in their lifetime. But 2,000 years later we’re still waiting, which is why Jesus tells us in this parable, “You know neither the day nor the hour, so don’t worry about it; stop trying to predict it; just keep awake.”
But back to the parable…when the Bridegroom is delayed, and the clock keeps ticking towards the wee hours of the night, all 10 bridesmaids fall asleep. The wise and the foolish, they all fall asleep. But at midnight, the cry goes up: “He’s on his way! Come out to meet him!” This is the important part—“come out to meet him!” But the 5 foolish bridesmaids get distracted and start focusing on things that are not important, like: “Gahhh! We’ve run out of oil for our lamps! Give us some of your extra oil.” And the 5 wise bridesmaids who are focused on what is really important--namely, meeting the Bridegroom--respond, “Why are you worrying about the oil? If you want more oil so badly, go out and buy some yourself.”
The 5 foolish ones could easily have just waited a few more minutes. Even if their lamps went out, surely they could have watched by the light of their wise friends’ lamps. The light of 5 lamps would still have been enough for all 10 of them to see. But the foolish ones focused on what they lacked, instead of the blessings that were right in front of them. They got distracted. So they went away to find more oil to buy, and when they got back they found the door to the wedding banquet shut. They were locked out. The wise ones were let in, not because they had more oil or even because they were wise, but simply because they were there when the bridegroom arrived! They remained present in mind and body, focused on the big picture of what’s truly important.
Taken together, this parable of Jesus and the warnings from the prophet Amos highlight the important of bringing your whole self to your relationship with God; to your relationship with other people; to your relationship with society at large. It’s a call for us to live so that faith and daily life are integrated; to focus your faith on talking the talk and walking the walk. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, “The life of faith is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.” And in God’s great math equation, this adds up to 100% Jesus, who’s cross and resurrection has given us enough light to look for the ways that the glorious day of the Lord is already breaking into the world, and to keep awake for how we can take part in it. Amen.