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Matthew 25: 1-13 November 9, 2008 Oil is the commodity that fuels the world economy; as the price of oil goes, so goes the price of gasoline. Earlier this year when oil was at or near $147 per barrel and I was commuting to my church in Sugar Pine or Miwuk Village up in the Sierra Nevada mountains, I would often drive on highway 49 going through a series of small towns on my way, between Jackson and Sonora. I would survey gas prices as I went; as I recall the highest I saw regular unleaded was about $4.69 a gallon - $2.60 per gallon more than we paid here in Nisswa on Saturday. When gas is that high, then anyone who drives has to make choices – drive the car but do not take your spouse out for dinner, a show or a movie. Your disposable income takes a hit. Even the groceries you buy are probably going to be more along the lines of “what you need” as opposed to “what you want.” Prices like that affect the country and the world . . the world even in places where there are few automobiles and where you would not imagine that the price of gas makes any difference. But it makes a difference because as disposable income goes down, people make tough choices. As they cut back on their driving, they may not even drive to church when the trip might be 17-18 miles one way, as it is when you’re coming up highway 108 from west of Sonora on your way to Sugar Pine, where you can find an ELCA church. And if people cut back on their driving to church, then they are probably cutting back on their giving to church as well. At least that was the case at Mount Calvary earlier this year. And interestingly enough, oil, albeit a different kind of oil – olive oil, was also a valuable commodity in biblical times, both Old Testament and New Testament. Olive oil, “oil” was used for cooking, for flavoring food, even as a base for some medicines and cosmetics. It was used for anointing kings and priests. And of course it was also used as fuel. Think of the pictures you have seen of the clay lamps, which were commonly used, fueled by oil drawn up through a wick. Oil was also soaked in rags and wrapped around poles for torches – often used in wedding processions. Oil was left on the altar in the temple along with grain as a mandated sacrifice. The prophet Micah wrote: “With what shall I come before the Lord…Will the Lord be pleased with ten thousand rivers of oil?” (Getting ahead of my story, the answer was “no.”) And then we come to Jesus’ story, a story about ten bridesmaids who go to greet a bridegroom – five wise with extra oil, five foolish without extra oil. Jesus told this story in response to the disciple’s question “...what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” And how does this story have a direct bearing on your life today? Think of it this way…You, me, we are the bridesmaids going to meet the bridegroom, Jesus Christ, the Anointed One. We do not know when he is coming but that does not matter, because we know he is coming. Now, I quoted from Micah a short time ago. Micah continued: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” We are each to live a life that draws its fuel from God’s own heart, do justice, love kindness, "walk humbly with our God." We are to be a light to the nations (Isaiah). Jesus, the Light of the World, tells us that we also are the light of the world, that we are, each one of us, a lamp placed on a lamp stand to provide illumination, light, to a darkened world, a world where people live in suffocating darkness, in poverty, without hope, without resources, with no way of getting resources. As David, anointed King of Israel, tells us in Psalm 23, we are anointed with oil, our cups over flow, surely goodness and mercy are to follow us all the days of our lives, because our supply of oil is inexhaustible, coming from our very God. My friends, it doesn’t matter that the economy is in a shambles, what matters is that we let the light of God flow through us and burn bright, not tightening our purse strings, not pulling back, trimming the wicks of our lamps so to speak. We are to step out in faith, to trust in God and in God’s promise! Brothers and sisters, fuel yourselves with what you know of the love and nature of God, and of God’s love for the world. Flame brightly. AMEN. Rev. Bruce Hannem,
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