H. Michael Brewer
Crescent Springs Presbyterian
23 October 2005
OFFERINGS THAT LIGHT THE DARKNESS
Matthew 25:1-13
Oil was every bit as important to ancient Israel as it is to modern America, but it was a different kind
of oil. Not petroleum, of course, which Israel didn’t need then and doesn’t have now, but olive oil, a
staple of the biblical world. Olive oil provided light, food, and medicine. Oil was used in war, in
worship, and in relaxation. Oil also figures prominently in the parable Jesus told about the young women
who were invited to a wedding party.
In those times a wedding feast lasted for several days. The high point arrived when the groom came
to fetch the bride from her parents’ house. That’s when the party got hardy. Custom required the
bridesmaids to watch for the coming of the groom so they could escort him along the road to the bride’
s house. One never knew for sure when the groom would arrive. Scheduling and time-keeping was
more casual in those days, and apparently many grooms made it a game to arrive at an unexpected
time. Therefore, the bridesmaids had to keep vigil and be ready to escort the groom no matter when he
appeared.
In the story Jesus told, the ten bridesmaids have waited into the night and finally fallen asleep. At
midnight comes the cry, “Look! Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him!” That’s when the
shortsighted bridesmaids realize their lamps have burned out and they have forgotten to bring oil for
their lamps. The five wise bridesmaids, who came equipped with extra flasks of oil, light their lamps and
go off to usher the groom to the party. The unprepared maidens meanwhile depart in search of
someplace to buy or borrow oil at midnight. By the time they get back the party has begun, and the
door is locked to keep gate-crashers out. The unfortunate Joanie-come-latelies can only peer wistfully
through the windows at what they are missing.
Keep that story in mind for a few moments while we talk a bit more about the significance of oil in
Jesus’ day. Sometimes oil was brought as an offering to God, but more frequently oil was used to
consecrate other offerings. Grain offerings, for instance, were shaped into little cakes by mixing in some
olive oil. Oil was also rubbed or sprinkled on the altar and the Temple tools in order to offer those
objects for the service of God. Even people—prophets, priests, and kings—were anointed with oil to
show that their lives were offered to God. Oil was the ingredient that fulfilled the offering. Oil completed
the gift. Whether one was offering a sheaf of grain or a golden candlestick or one’s own service, the
offering was lacking unless anointed with oil.
With that in mind, I want to take a fresh approach to the parable of the wise and foolish
bridesmaids. I want to think about this parable as a story about some people who bring acceptable
offerings to God and others whose offerings are missing a crucial ingredient.
In this parable the bridesmaids all give the same amount of time. They bring similar lamps. The only
difference is that some of them lack oil, and that makes all the difference in their offerings. The lack of
oil suggests a lack of dedication, an outward act without inward devotion, an incomplete commitment.
The Old Testament prophets often addressed this problem. Speaking through Amos, for instance, God
says to the Jews, “I will not accept your burnt offerings or your grain offerings. The fatted animals that
you bring to my altar do not please me. Nor do I delight in your hymns or your worship services.”
(Paraphrased from Amos 5:21-23)
Why does God reject their offerings? Because their hearts were wrong! Amos didn’t condemn the
Jewish people for the gifts they brought, but because they brought those gifts in the wrong spirit,
because those grain offerings and fatted calves were not mingled with love or righteousness. Like a
lamp without oil, those offerings looked good, but they were spiritually dry and thus incomplete and
unacceptable.
We’ve been reminding ourselves lately about the crucial role that stewardship plays in Christian faith.
If you haven’t already done so, you’ll have the opportunity today to bring forward your commitment
cards as an offering to God. I hope you plan to give generously. But I must tell you that we need more
from you than a dollar figure and a signature on a card. We need for each and every gift to be anointed
with the oil of dedication. We need from you that devotion to God which makes the difference between
an offering of obligation and a thankful, joyful commitment to Christ.
Old Testament offerings could be broadly divided into two categories. First, there were offerings of
thankfulness and rejoicing. These offerings brought people near to God and gladdened the heart. These
were celebrations.
Second, there were offerings of grim obligation: the sin offerings that people brought because they
felt compelled to do so. We might compare these offerings to the check you write to the IRS. There’s
value in it, no doubt, but not much joy. I dare say a good many of us send our annual donation to the
IRS not so much because we want to, but because we are required to do so.
Israel’s thankful offerings were typically anointed with oil, but the other kind—the sin offerings, the
jealousy offerings, the sacrifices of obligation—they were never anointed. It was forbidden to touch
them with oil because those offerings had nothing to do with joy or gratitude.
So what kind of offering will you bring today? Mind you, your frame of mind won’t make any
difference to the church budget. Dollars are dollars, and whether you give joyfully or grudgingly, your
dollars will still buy groceries for hungry families and pay CG&E for keeping the lights on. If we were a
business here, the spirit of your gift wouldn’t matter in the least. But we’re not a business. We are the
body of Christ and the health of the body depends not only on what we give, but also on how we give it.
A few years ago I watched a performer at work in downtown Philadelphia. On a street corner one
evening he did magic tricks and for his finale he escaped from a straitjacket. When he finished he said,
“This is how I make my living. If you enjoyed the show and want to make a donation, I would welcome
that. But, please, don’t fold a dollar bill seven times and pitch it on the sidewalk at my feet. Come up
and hand it to me so I can shake hands with you. Even if you don’t have any money and you just want
to say you enjoyed the show, I’d still like to shake your hand.”
A dollar dropped on the sidewalk will spend just as well as a dollar in an open hand. But it made a
difference to this guy how the dollar was given. It always makes a difference. In the Old Testament, an
offering without oil is an offering without joy, and a gift in the wrong spirit is a gift unacceptable to God.
In the parable of Jesus, a lamp without oil turns out to be a hollow gesture that brings no joy to the
groom or to the bridesmaids who end up missing all the fun.
Whatever gift you bring, I hope you will anoint it with thankfulness, heartfelt dedication, and cheerful
generosity. That is the giving that pleases God. That is the giving that brightens the darkness and sheds
some joy in a dreary world. That is the giving that gladdens the giver.
The Greek title Christ and the Hebrew word Messiah both mean the same thing: “one who has been
anointed.” God’s great gift to us, the gift of God’s only Son, was a gift anointed, a gift given in joy, not a
gesture of grudging obligation, but a gift from the heart of God’s exuberant love for us.
That’s how God gives to us. How shall we give to God? Shall we be like the foolish ones who go
through the outward motions but offer nothing from the heart? Or shall we take our place with the wise
ones whose gifts are always anointed with dedication, with joy, with gratitude, and with love?
Soli Deo Gloria!