The Inconsistent Light

" Jesus told His disciples this parable:
'The Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to see the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.
Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all the virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' The wise ones replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.' While they went off, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards, the other virgins came and said, "Lord, Lord, open the door for us!' But he said in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you. Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.' "--[ Matthew 25: 1-13].

My parents identified themselves as Christians. If you had said to them that maybe they were Jewish, or Buddhist or Hindu? -- they would have been baffled and would have even argued with you.

We went to church weekly, at least until I was 14. I was baptized and Confirmed and received my First Communion.

Every Sunday after church, we all went to my grandparents' house for a big Sunday dinner. Every year, we put up a huge Christmas tree, and sang Christmas Carols. We ate ham for Easter, and enjoyed an Easter egg hunt with the cousins.

But this parable makes clear that being a Christian means more than carrying around an empty lamp. Christians shine their Light on others. They do this consistently.

There has been a lot in the news lately about famous celebrities, people in power behaving vastly differently behind closed doors. They may go through all the motions of their Faith, going to church or synagogue, observing their denomination's rituals, celebrating the religious holidays. In public, they are respected and even idolized.

It was this way in my family. In public, they drove newer cars, wore fine clothes, kept an immaculate yard, dressed my sibling and me in adorable clothes, sent us to the finest schools. My family was respected and admired.

But the shades to our house were always drawn. My mother would tell me, "What happens in this house stays in the four walls of this house."  What was happening was rage, drunkenness, hatred, racism, envy, physical, emotional and all other kinds of abuse. They did to believe in God. They never said they loved me. They did not show it, either.

They were a people like those spoken of in 2 Timothy 3: 1-4: " [They] will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous [speaking lies about others], without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- having a 'form of godliness' but denying its power."

People such as these are not full of Life, they are a living Death. Their Light is snuffed out, darkness envelopes them.

Even as a girl, I always tried to model Love and Light by doing good deeds, being patient and kind, walking away from their abusive acts. But this Light never seemed to rub off on them.

My father reminds me of the servant in Matthew 24: 48 -- "Suppose that the servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My Master [God] is staying away a long time, and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The Master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites."

One early spring day, my father awoke, had a cup of coffee, collapsed and died of a massive heart attack.

My first reaction was shock. Then, I tried to go confess to my parish priest all that my father had done. Week after week, I returned to tell him what my father had done. I told my priest that I hoped that God would have some mercy on my father? The priest told me, "It doesn't work that way, you cannot confess the sins of another, expecting that other person to be absolved."

In the same way, the ten wise virgins could not light the lamps of the foolish ones. The foolish ones had the chance to shine their Light for the bridegroom, but they did not. We cannot directly create a light and a relationship with God FOR someone else. We can model that behavior, but we cannot do it for them.

In the end, the bridegroom shuts out the unprepared virgins. He declares, "I do not even know you." Chilling words. . . .

But, if we treat God and Jesus as if we do not know them, how do we expect them to react to us?

[Related Postings : "The Seamless Christian", 12/2/12/]

(c) Spiritual Devotional 2017. All Rights Reserved.