“Then shall the kingdom of heaven
be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth
to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and
five were foolish. They that were foolish took their
lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their
vessels with their lamps.While the bridegroom tarried,
they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry
made, 'Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.' Then all those virgins arose, and
trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the
wise, 'Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.' But the wise answered, saying, 'Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to
them that sell, and buy for yourselves.'
And
while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready
went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward
came also the other virgins, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us.' But he
answered and said, 'Verily I say unto you, I know you not.'"
“Watch
therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh.” Matthew 25:1-13,
KJV
The Second Sunday
evening of every month since last year has been set aside for an hour
of corporate prayer in the sanctuary of our fellowship. I started
scheduling such an event after reading Joyce Huggett's book
The Joy of Listening to God (Intervarsity Press ©
1987). Speaking only for myself, I know how to talk to God; it's the
listening part that is challenging to me. I call these gatherings
“Wait & See” because my hope is that we will wait upon the
Lord and then "see" and hear what he may be saying to us.
The
format that we use for this gathering is fairly simple. I put on some
quiet, instrumental worship and encourage those who attend to sit
quietly anywhere in the sanctuary and be still before him. Most
people bring their Bible with them. I bring my journal as well. We
are quiet for the first half hour or so trying to allow him room to
speak. After this we circle up and share among ourselves
impressions, thoughts, pictures or Scripture that may have come to
mind while we sat. The goal is try and discern any common themes or
Scriptures that may come to light as we share.
Yesterday
it snowed all day and while by evening the snow was tapering off the
plows had only begun to clear the way. Honestly, these gatherings are
not well attended – usually only between four and seven
people – so I fully anticipated that I might be on my own for this
gathering. But if the priest in the days of the Tabernacle was
required to keep the lamp of the Presence burning daily how could I
neglect the Lord because of four inches worth of snow? Besides I only
live three blocks away.
But
three showed up – Sandy, a senior citizen, Sara, a twenty-something and Randy, one of our elders who lives out of town –
and more than quorum was met. Since beginning this routine of these
gatherings I have gotten better at learning to still myself before
the Lord. But last night I came to the gathering with a lot of
interior noise and static. I was frustrated over a few fellowship
matters, our internet at home wasn't working, and one sentence out of
an otherwise positive letter from a couple in our congregation raised
a bit of ire in me. So out of a need to quiet myself I turned to
Philippians 4 and re-read the words of Paul to myself:
“Celebrate God all day, every day.
I mean, revel in him! [Peterson's
translation of “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again,
Rejoice] Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that
you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help
them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any
minute!”
“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of
worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into
prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense
of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come
and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ
displaces worry at the center of your life.” (Philippians 4:6-7, Msg)
I had to do this
first, purposefully rejoicing in God's goodness, the wonder that for
over twenty-seven years a group of people still unflinchingly
affirmed me as their pastor and that probably was okay to be off the
'net for an afternoon and evening. I won't say my spirit settled
immediately but eventually it did.
And then in my
mind's eye as I continued to kneel at the altar I saw Pastor Guy. Pastor Guy pastors Chetek Lutheran
Church down the street from us. He's something of an artist and will just as eagerly quote
Scripture as he will, say, John Lennon, as a part of his weekly
message. He's also writes and plays folk music. So while I knelt at
the altar disciplining myself to rejoice and not to worry I saw and
heard Pastor Guy playing “This Little Light of Mine” as he had
done at our annual ministerial Post-Epiphany Christmas Party a few weeks before.
 |
| Pastor Guy working his magic |
Journal entry
#1:
“We are probably the only
Christians in Chetek tonight gathered together to pray. Four souls
out on a snowy night to wait on God together. I can't help but hear
refrains of “This Little Light of Mine” as we do. Our 'little
light' burns tonight – may it light the darkness and encourage the
faithful to keep their lamp trimmed.”
I then turned to
Matthew 25 to re-read the Parable of the Ten Virgins. Five were wise
and five were foolish. The wise ones remained alert while the foolish
allowed themselves to become distracted, sleepy or both. And then
suddenly, the bridegroom showed up and the wedding began in earnest
to the joy of the wise virgins and the shock and disappointment of
the foolish ones.
Journal entry
#2:
“I want to be
diligent to keep my lamp trimmed with a ready supply of oil. I want
to stay on task, expecting inspection at any moment. May You lead our
prayers so that we at Refuge and the faithful here in town will
remain diligent, fervent, serving the Lord.”
I had entered the sanctuary thirty minutes before frustrated (among
other things) that I couldn't get on-line at home and the tech
support people had been less than professional in their dealings with
me. (To be fair, I wasn't the best of customer to them.) A half hour
later, however, I was in earnest that we here would be about the
Master's business when he returns.
“Yes, I'm on
my way! I'll be there soon! I'm bringing my payroll with me. I'll pay
all people in full for their life's work!” (Jesus
in Revelation 22:12, The Message) Lord, may my life's work
glorify You and bring glory to You.”
As we circled up and shared the Scriptures and impressions that we
had individually felt a common theme did emerge that could be summed
up this way: small things matter and cause significant
change
Sandy: “What
shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall
we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the
smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and
becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that
the birds can perch in its shade.” (Mark 4:31-32, NIV) All God needs is a small mustard seed of hope and he can turn
things around.
Sara: “...let your
light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and
glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew
5:16, NIV) Even a little light can brighten the
darkness. So may God help us to be his light wherever we go.
Randy: “Do
everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may
become blameless and pure, 'children of God without fault
in a warped and crooked generation.' Then you will shine among
them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of
life.” (Philippians 2:14-16,
NIV). We need to be light.
These weren't the only things that each of them shared. There were
more. But I think we could sense at least one thing God was saying to
us on a snowy night in Chetek: Don't give up gathering together and seeking me.
Stay alert and awake. Stay on task and be diligent. Remember “even
a little light” can brighten a dark room.
“So let it
shine, let it shine, let it shine...”
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