Pentecost +23

 On Matthew 25.1-13

        Have you ever realised how much we depend on knowing the time in our society? We see folks look at the clock on the wall, listen to the radio announcer tell us the exact hour at the sound of the beep, frantically checking our watches or phones time and again. Our society is founded on always knowing the day and the hour. Appointments are scheduled, and our electronic devices and caring companions remind us of the time. And without this, we’d be late – we would miss the arbitrary numbers turning on the clock.

         Imagine, if you will, a time before watches. Before clocks. Before people told us that we were always in fear of running late. People would wait patiently for one another if they had scheduled a meeting, because they knew that their companion would arrive. Time was imprecise – mid day was sometime when the sun is directly overhead; midnight was sometime in the midst of the deepest dark. As history progressed, a sundial could be used (during daylight hours), and a church bell's invitation to prayer would let the community recognise a passing of 3 hours (ish).

         Back then - and let's be honest, it's not that far back - no one knew the exact time, and yet everything was accomplished. People tried to be respectful of other people’s times as they hoped their time would be respected. The world kept turning.

         Imagine, if you will, if time were not the centre of our schedules. (We can think of weekends or vacations when we have temporarily - pardon the pun - stepped away from the way modernity clings to time, but the notion still informs our social construct and awareness.)

         Imagine time without numbers. If a delay of 5 minutes wasn't even noticed, much less a cause of stress. If we had something to do and just did it. Imagine, if you will, if time was not linear. If we allowed time to simply ebb and flow, to move in and around us without our trying to control it. Imagine if none of us had a day timer or a clock, if we could follow the rhythms of our bodies and our cultures without the added pressure.

         Before we became slaves to watches, this was everyone's norm. They would get up at dawn, and go to bed when it got dark. They would pay attention to the passing of the days based on accomplishments and learnings rather than checking off another day on the calendar. Wise people would be said to have lived a certain number of years one after another, less-wise people would be said to have lived one year over and over again a certain number of times. You weren’t given an age, because that was again an arbitrary number.

         Imagine, then, what church would look like if we didn’t have watches. Worship would flow according to how people felt, it would be guided by the Spirit to offer praise and thanksgiving as based on the hearts and minds of those gathered. Scriptures would be read, teachings taught, and prayers prayed. People would not need to worry about what day and hour the Lord might come at, because they could listen to the movement of the Spirit and be prepared.

         Now, please note that preparation is a key component of this.   A life without our modern conveniences came with certain responsibilities. One had to pay attention to the world around, in order to not be surprised by it. Travellers needed to have an awareness of when night would fall, so they could plan their journeys accordingly - wandering alone after dark was not safe. Artificial light was careful measured - a night's passing was calculated by the amount of oil for the lamp - as the bridesmaids in today's gospel well knew. "Be prepared" is sage advice.

         So what about us? How do we prepare? In the 90's there was a BBC comedy series called “The Vicar of Dibley.” In this drowsy little town, the parish verger is... well, she’s not the brightest bulb on the porch. On hearing this reading, she gets very confused, and spends half of one episode asking the vicar what day and time the Lord will come. She wants to put it in her calendar, to make sure Jesus is aware of local bus schedules so He wouldn’t be stuck in traffic, to have plenty of prep time to clean the house and choose her wardrobe. She wants to plan her schedule around to present her best to God upon his arrival. She doesn’t get it – she thinks that the coming of the Lord can be scheduled and categorised and restricted to modern timings. And it’s funny to watch, because it is so ridiculous.

         The disturbing part, however, is that sometimes we can all act this way. We try to schedule Jesus into the calendar, in small blocks. Daily prayer? I have 15 minutes in the morning. Corporate worship? Let's keep to schedule and be out of here by 11.15, or else I'll be late for brunch. We hear o some folks, from time to time, who claim that they have discerned the precise day and hour for the second coming of the Christ (note how often those claims are not correct...)

         But God doesn’t work that way. God is timeless. God does NOT carry a day timer or wear a watch. God’s time is a different time than ours. It’s not linear or restricted, it is not defined by numbers. God’s time is beyond our imagination, yet is present to us. It speaks to our soul, if we are open to listening. God’s time does not fit with the rhythms of our societies because God is beyond those limitations.

         This means that being prepared for God is a difficult task – it’s not like preparing for hosting a party, where you have time to clean the house and make the food and be all dressed up to answer the door when the knock comes. It’s preparing for the coming of God at any time, in any place. That means that we recognise that everything we do may be our last opportunity, our last moment, before the coming. We're constantly invited to be prepared, to be awake, to the signs of God's presence now, and the promise of the mystery that is to come.

         So every time we speak, we can use words that we would be happy to have as our last earthly words. Every time we hear someone else’s words, we can hear them in our hearts with the emotions we would be happy to have as our last earthly emotions. Everything that we do, we can be happy to have as our last earthly accomplishment. Every prayer, every song, every action could be our last – and so we need to prepare for that.

         It would be arrogant and foolish to expect that God will let us know in our cultural reference what time, what day and hour, God will come again. We can expect, however, that God tells our deepest selves that God wants us to be prepared. God wants for us to choose to prepare ourselves not just for the final day and hour, but for every day and every hour – with joyful expectation.

         Our God is timeless. Our responding love should be the same. And if it is, we have kept our hearts awake, prepared for that unknown day and hour.