Perspective: Who Are the Wise?

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Who Are the Wise?

Happy are those servants whom the master finds fulfilling their responsibilities when he comes.

Matthew 24:46 (CEB)

I wanna love because You loved
I wanna give because You gave
I wanna reach my hand out to the lost
Because I know Your hand will save

From "Only You Can Save" by Chris Sligh

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells a story about ten bridesmaids who wait with a bride for the arrival or her groom, who, for some reason, has been delayed.  At midnight, word comes that the groom is on his way.  Five of the bridesmaids had the foresight to bring some extra lamp oil, so they prepare their lamps and go out and meet the groom.  The other five have already run out of oil, so they have to go out and find someone to sell them some oil.  By the time they return, the groom has arrived, and the door to the venue has been locked.  They end up missing the wedding celebration.¹

I don't like this parable, because, as I've commented previously, the details don't make any sense to my modern, Western ears.  In my culture, a wedding celebration is planned out to the most minute detail, so this parable leaves me with a lot of questions that probably distract me from the main point.  Why would the groom be so late to his own wedding?  Why didn't the wedding planner set up some lanterns so that there would be plenty of light for everybody?  If the five prudent bridesmaids couldn't share their oil with the others, could they not have shared their lamplight with them?

So often we read Scripture in bitesize pieces.  When we study the Gospels, we might focus on one parable, teaching, miracle, or encounter at a time.  I've learned that sometimes it can be helpful to step back and take more of a bird's-eye view when studying Scripture.  Reading multiple consecutive passages together can reveal truths that a single passage might not reveal on its own.  For example, the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke contains three parables, the last of which is the famous Parable of the Prodigal Son.  Often we read this third parable by itself, but the first two parables establish a certain pattern, and reading the third in light of this pattern can reveal things that might go unnoticed otherwise.

The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids is only one in a series of parables that appear together in the Gospel of Matthew, the last of which might not really be a parable.  Perhaps, if we take a step back and look at the series as a whole, we might discover something important.

Jesus sets up this series of parables by describing a servant who is put in charge of his employer's entire household, including the management of the other servants, while his employer is away.  The servant then faces a choice.  He can be responsible by faithfully doing what he has been tasked to do, or he can be irresponsible by living large off his employer's estate while abusing his fellow servants.  Suppose the employer returns before this servant expects him to return.  If the servant has been acting responsibly, he'll be just fine.  On the other hand, if the servant has been acting irresponsibly, he'll be in big trouble with his employer.²

Scholar N.T. Wright suggests that the choice presented to the servant is the choice between wisdom and folly, which is a recurring theme in Scriptural wisdom literature.³  According to Wright,
Ultimately, the wise person is the one who respects and honours God, and the fool is the one who forgets him.  But their wisdom and folly work themselves out in a thousand different ways in daily life, in business, in the home and village, in making plans for the future, in how they treat other people, in their honesty or dishonesty, in their hard work or laziness, in their ability to recognize and avoid temptations to immorality.⁴

With this hypothetical situation, Jesus establishes the pattern for the entire series of parables.  In each parable, the wise and responsible are separated from the foolish and irresponsible.  The former are invited to celebrate, while the latter end up in a place of "weeping and gnashing of teeth."

When it comes to the Parable of the Bridesmaids, we modern, Western folk simply have to accept that, in a different culture with very different wedding traditions, the details actually make sense.  The point of the story is that five of the bridesmaids are prepared, and, as a result, they are able to join in the wedding festivities.  The other five bridesmaids, by contrast, are not prepared, so they miss out on the celebration entirely.  The former are wise, but the latter are foolish.

Jesus goes on to tell a story about a wealthy person who entrusts different sums of money to three servants before going on a long trip.  Two of these servants aggressively invest the money entrusted to them, and both receive a one-hundred percent return on their investments.  The third buries the money entrusted to him.  In this parable, the first two servants are the wise, because they responsibly use what has been entrusted to them, but the third is foolish, because he doesn't use what is entrusted to him but rather hoards it.  When their employer returns, the former are invited to celebrate and are given additional responsibilities, but the latter is fired.⁵

Wright suggests that these servants might represent the religious leaders of the day and that the assets entrusted to them might represent the gifts of their religion.  Wright calls to mind what God promised to their ancestor Abraham, that "in [him] all the families of the earth shall be blessed."⁶  We use the gifts of our religion responsibly when we serve as a light that points others to God.  We misuse or hoard the gifts of our religion when we use them solely for our own good, illuminating ourselves.⁷

Jesus then tells a story in which the Son of Man returns to take His throne.  He separates the wise from the foolish "as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats."

To the wise, the King says,
Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me...  Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.

To the foolish, the King says,
You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me...  Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.⁸

As in the previous parables, there is celebration for the wise and "weeping and gnashing of teeth" for the foolish.  As I hinted earlier, this last parable might actually be less of a parable and more of a prophecy.

Jesus tells this series of narratives in the midst of a discourse on events yet to come.⁹  One of these events is the coming of the Son of Man, known by some as Judgment Day.  In the parables, it is represented by the arrival of the bridegroom and the return of the master of the household.  People have different ideas about what this event will be.  Maybe it represents events that occurred in Palestine nearly two thousand years ago.  Maybe it represents a time in the future, when Christ returns to set all things right.  Maybe it represents some judgment we face after we die.  Maybe it represents any number of actions God has taken or will take.

Do we really need to know exactly what Judgment Day is?  The parables teach us that, if we are faithfully doing what God has called us to do, we will be ready for it, whatever form it takes.  We're ready for the Master of the household to return if we're doing what the Master has tasked us to do.

So who are the wise?  The wise are those who are prepared for whatever action God takes, because they are faithfully doing what God has called and equipped them to do.  They are serving God by serving the children of God.


Notes:

1. Matthew 25:1-13
2. Matthew 24:45-51
3. N.T Wright.  Matthew for Everyone, Part 2.  2004, Westminster John Knox Press.  p. 130
4. ibid.
5. Matthew 25:14-30
6. Genesis 12:3 (NRSV)
7. Wright, p. 138
8. Matthew 25:31-46 (NRSV)
9. See Matthew 24-25.

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins was painted by William Blake in the early 1800s.

Introspection: Sandwiches I Didn't Enjoy

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Sandwiches I Didn't Enjoy

By the sweat of your face

you shall eat bread

until you return to the ground,

for out of it you were taken;

you are dust,

and to dust you shall return.

Genesis 3:19 (NRSV)

---

So I commend enjoyment, for there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat, and drink, and enjoy themselves, for this will go with them in their toil through the days of life that God gives them under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 8:15 (NRSV)

It happens in a blink, it happens in a flash

It happens in the time it took to look back

I try to hold on tight, but there's no stopping time

What is it I've done with my life?

From "Blink" by Revive

The eighteenth century nobleman John Montagu was an avid gambler.  Unwilling to allow his hunger to interrupt his games of cribbage, he often ordered a slice of salted beef served between two pieces of toast.  The bread covering the meat afforded him the convenience of eating while playing without getting his cards greasy.  Montagu happened to be the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, so his meal of choice, which was probably known simply as "bread and meat" previously, became known as the "sandwich."  When Montagu ordered his meal, others would order "the same as Sandwich."^{1 2}

Personally, I'm a big fan of the sandwich.  At a certain deli downtown, I've been ordering a turkey sandwich on toasted rye bread.  A bagel shop one block over serves a delicious vegan bagel sandwich made of hummus, bean sprouts, and cucumber slices.  A certain bookstore cafe downtown serves an avocado chicken salad sandwich on ciabatta bread.  At a deli near the local shopping mall, I usually eat a club sandwich served on a croissant with guacamole.  At Greek or Mediterranean restaurants, I often order a gyro, which is a sandwich made of meat, vegetables, and tzatziki sauce wrapped up in pita bread.  During my less health-conscious moments, my sandwich of choice is the ever-popular bacon cheeseburger.

In late 2002, singer-songwriter Warren Zevon appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, not long after he was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer.  During the interview, Letterman asked him if his terminal diagnosis had given him any insights that most of us might not have.  He replied that he had come to realize "how much you're supposed to enjoy every sandwich."³

I love sandwiches, but, looking back on my life, I can see that there have been many sandwiches I did not enjoy.

As you might know, my previous job was in the gambling industry.  I hated that job because it was stressful and because it brought me a great deal of shame.  During one particularly stressful stretch of time, I took a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to work with me every day, and I ate it at my desk.  The PB&J is not a sandwich I like, but I ate it for lunch anyway.  On some days, I couldn't even finish it.  I probably knew that I would enjoy my day more if I would just take something different for lunch and eat in the break room, but, for some reason, I didn't even want to enjoy my day.  I hated my situation, and I didn't want to do anything to make it more tolerable.

I find it beautifully ironic that Zevon spoke of mindfully eating and enjoying a food named for someone who sought to eat less mindfully.

Ever since I've started writing regularly, I've found myself at sandwich shops several times a week, accompanied by either my laptop or whatever book I've been reading.  The fare of such restaurants allows me to eat while reading or writing, and the wireless Internet access they usually offer is an added convenience.  That said, I've eaten countless sandwiches without enjoying them because I was so engrossed in whatever I was doing while eating.  Though I benefited from the nutritional value of these sandwiches, I still feel that they somehow went to waste.

You've probably figured out that Warren Zevon's comment about sandwiches was not really about sandwiches but rather about life in general.  Basically, Zevon was saying that we should savor every blessing life has to offer, even if it is something as simple and ordinary as a sandwich.

I think that many of us suffer from a lack of mindfulness.  Life passes us by because mentally we're a million miles away from wherever we happen to be physically.  We're not fully present in what we're doing because we're multitasking or because we're thinking about what we have to do next or what we would rather be doing.  We overcommit ourselves, and we end up rushing through one activity so that we can hurry off to the next activity and rush through that one as well.  We ignore the world around us because we spend so much time looking at our phones.

As the work week draws to an end, people like to proclaim, "Thank God it's Friday!"  Many of us hate Mondays because it marks the beginning of the work week and the obligations that come with it, but we love Fridays because we will soon have time to do what we want to do as opposed to what we are expected to do.  What we fail to realize is that on Monday we have four more days of life ahead of us than we do on Friday.  We're wishing our lives away by waiting for the weekend!  We need to stop waiting for our work to be completed to start enjoying life and find ways to enjoy life in the midst of our work.

Financial guru Dave Ramsey is quoted as advising people to "tell every penny where to go."  What if we were just as intentional in regards to how we use our time?  After all, time is more precious than money: though we can trade time for money, we cannot reverse the transaction.  What if we had a purpose for each second of the day or at least tried to enjoy every second?

Lately, I've been taking a cue from Warren Zevon and trying to live my life a little more mindfully, starting with when I eat.  Sometimes I put my books and my computer away and simply enjoy my meal.  At other times, when I'm doing something else while I eat, I try to remember to pause, chew my food well, and savor the taste.  I'm hoping that practicing mindfulness while I eat will help me to become more mindful at other times.  Life is a gift, and it would be a shame not to enjoy this precious gift to the fullest.

The next time you eat a sandwich, dear reader, I hope that you remember to slow down and enjoy your meal - and your life - a little more fully.  Life is too short not to enjoy good sandwiches.


Notes:

1. "Sandwich History."  What's Cooking America.
2. Wikipedia: "Sandwich"
3. Robert Deis.  "Enjoy Every Sandwich."  This Day in Quotes, 10/30/2014.

The photograph of the BLT was taken by Steven Groves and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.

Perspective: The Image Is Everything

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

The Image Is Everything

If anyone boasts, "I love God," and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar.  If he won't love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can't see?  The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people.  You've got to love both.

1 John 4:20-21 (The Message)

Surely life wasn't made to regret

And the lost were not made to forget

Surely faith without action is dead

Let Your kingdom come

Lord, break this heart

From "The Power of Your Name" by Lincoln Brewster

As I noted previously, when Jesus starts shaking things up in Jerusalem, the religious leaders strike back by asking Him loaded questions in the hopes of getting Him in trouble in some way.  At one point, one of the Pharisees' religious scholars approaches Jesus and asks, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"¹

Jesus replies, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the greatest and first commandment."  Jesus is referencing part of a passage from the Book of Deuteronomy commonly known as the Shema, named for the Hebrew word for "hear."

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.  Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.  Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.  Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.²

The Shema is a passage of Scripture that is very important to the Jewish people, who recite it multiple times a day.  It is said at the beginning of Jewish prayer services and is thought to be like a creed of Judaism.  The Shema is the first passage of Scripture memorized by Jewish children, who are taught to say it before they go to bed at night.^{3 4}  It is not unexpected that Jesus would quote from such an important passage when answering the scholar's question.

Jesus continues, "And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"  Jesus is quoting part of a passage from the Book of Leviticus.

You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself.  You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.⁵

Jesus then says, "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."⁶  Basically, Jesus distills all the instructions found in the Jewish Law and all of the exhortations of the Jewish prophets into two rules that are simple but by no means easy to follow.  William Barclay suggests, "We may well say that here Jesus laid down the complete definition of religion."⁷  According to N.T. Wright, "Jesus' answer was so traditional that nobody could challenge him on it, and so deeply searching that everyone else would be challenged by it."⁸

I think it is worth noting that, though the religious scholar only asks Jesus which commandment He thinks is the greatest, Jesus offers him both the greatest and the second greatest.  Why would Jesus find it necessary to offer him both?  I wonder if maybe He simply couldn't offer him one without offering him the other.  I wonder if maybe these two commandments are inextricably linked, like two sides of the came coin.  Perhaps one cannot truly obey one of these commandments without obeying the other as well.

St. James references the Shema, the creed of the Jewish people, in his letter, perhaps with a bit of snark.  He writes, "You believe that God is one; you do well.  Even the demons believe - and shudder."⁹  In other words, evil spirits believe all the right things about God, but it's not really doing them any good since they have no intention of changing their ways.  James goes on to suggest that "just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead."¹⁰  Basically, it does not matter what you claim to believe if you are not living according to what you claim to believe.

James writes earlier in his letter, "You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"¹¹  James refers to the second greatest commandment as the royal law because it is the law emphasized by Jesus Christ, who is known to His followers as the "King of Kings and Lord of Lords."¹²  Perhaps James would agree that you cannot rightly claim that you "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might" unless you truly "love your neighbor as yourself."

In my previous post, I highlighted a certain passage from the Creation poem at the beginning of the Bible.  I am starting to see that this passage has many implications for our lives.

So God created humankind in his image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.¹³

I think that maybe the truth that humans bear the Imago Dei, the Image of God, is what links Jesus' two greatest commandments.  In the words of St. John, "Those who say, 'I love God,' and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen."¹⁴  We cannot see God, but we can see the image of God in our neighbors.

Barclay connects the worth of a human being to the image of God he or she bears.  He goes on to write,
Take away the love of God, and we can look at human nature and become angry at those who cannot be taught; we can become pessimistic about those who cannot make progress; we can become callous to those who are cold and calculating in their actions.  The love of humanity is firmly grounded in the love of God.¹⁵
In other words, no matter how worthless or unworthy a person might be according to worldly standards, the person is of infinite worth because he or she bears the image of God.  When we are tempted to totally dismiss someone, we would do well to remember that he or she is a child of God.

Christ commands us to love God with all we've got and to love our fellow humans as we love ourselves.  We love the God we cannot see by loving the children of God we see all around us.  At the same time, loving our infinite God enables us to love our fellow human beings who are of infinite worth.


Notes:

1. Much of this blog post is based on Matthew 22:34-40.  Quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version.
2. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NRSV)
3. Wikipedia: "Shema Yisrael"
4. William Barclay.  The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, Volume Two.  2001, Saint Andrew Press.  p. 324
5. Leviticus 19:17-18 (NRSV)
6. Matthew 22:40 (NRSV)
7. Barclay, p. 324
8. N.T Wright.  Matthew for Everyone, Part 2.  2004, Westminster John Knox Press.  p. 93
9. James 2:19 (NRSV)
10. James 2:26 (NRSV)
11. James 2:8 (NRSV)
12. Revelation 19:16
13. Genesis 1:27 (NRSV)
14. 1 John 4:20 (NRSV)
15. Barclay, pp. 324-325

The photograph of the scroll is public domain.