Staying Mindful

I have had a reputation in my life

for not sleeping.

As a small child, I didn't sleep through the night

and frequently kept my parents awake.

As a kid at camp, not being a good sleeper,

everyone thought that I just didn't sleep.

Even through college and seminary, my friends joked that I must not be human

because they had never seen me sleep.

I have a hard time sleeping through noise,

and people make a lot of noise.

My husband continues this line of joking still today

though he has managed to catch me asleep, though not often,

because he falls asleep faster than I do and he can sleep through almost anything.

In the Gospel passage this morning, we hear another parable from Jesus.

And this one leaves us with a lot more questions instead of answers.

In the stories and teachings before this parable in the arc of story from Matthew

Jesus is on this theme of staying awake.

Of course, we get to the parable of the bridesmaids and

see all of them promptly fall asleep.

Thankfully, I don't think Jesus keeps telling his disciples to stay awake

because sleep deprivation madness is the key to the kingdom.

While I know Jesus means people should literally feed the hungry and clothe the naked

when he teaches care for the poor

I don't think he literally means no sleeping when he teaches and preaches keeping awake.

My conclusion is that Jesus means what we call being mindful these days.

Let's look at the parable.

The parable looks like a classic story to back up the scout wisdom to be prepared

and while that is certainly wisdom

we can't always be prepared for everything.

so, how is this like the kingdom of heaven?

This parable comes near the end of Jesus' ministry,

and things are getting tense around Jesus.

Things are getting dicey in Jerusalem and people are anxious

they want to know what is coming and when it is going to happen

things are moving and tensions are high and everyone wants certainty

we know what that feels like.

Yet, in this uncertainty, Jesus only preaches

to stay awake.

This morning, this might seem like preaching to the choir.... and all those who are already here!

Most of us here this morning already are trying to be mindful of God in our lives.

However, This is not the only time Jesus says to the disciples to stay awake

to be present and mindful and aware of what is going on

the gospel of Mark has six instances

the gospel of Matthew has six instances

Luke has one really important one: because the disciples stay awake, they see Jesus transfigured on the mountain with Moses and Elijah

and naturally, there is also the unforgettable story of Jesus and the disciples in Gethsemane, where he asks them to stay awake and they do all fall asleep.

Yet Jesus continues to teach them to stay awake

because new things continue to happen.

In reflecting on this parable, we might want to find ways for this parable to be more inclusive

we don't want anyone to left out.

those young women who didn't have enough oil could have just had a bad day

or perhaps didn't have the money for more oil

or who knows what kind of jobs and families they have taking up their brain space

There is not a single helping hand offered in this parable.

Some of the bridesmaids are stingy and mean, some of them leave

some of them don't trust that they will have enough.

This parable sounds a little harsh.

Cultural customs in weddings in the Middle East suggest that the groom might be going to multiple different places before the final wedding destination and we all know how families get at a wedding

the concept of being on time is very difficult to stick with, especially if you aren't carrying around your phone with its incessant alarms, timers, and reminders

those poor women had no way to know how long the groom was going to be!

this kind of parable is where some Christians find permission to judge others for their devotion

its also where people make bad allegories, saying things like the young women left behind are the Jews who didn't believe in Jesus as the Messiah.

Y'all, Christians have made some horrible interpretation choices over the centuries.

We do need to repent of those.

Jesus was a teacher and he tended to use things people already knew

in order to stop and remind the people of how their (and our) lives could be different.

Jesus goes into the scriptural memory banks of all the people listening to him and reminds them of the writings about wisdom and folly.

In the wisdom literature, wisdom and folly are personified as women and people would be able to see the correlations with these ten young women.

If we believe in all sorts of other things that Jesus says,

then we have to believe him when he preaches to stay awake in order to experience God

he says it multiple times

We have to heed the teaching to stay awake

to wait and watch and be ready

Since even I can't be awake all the time

my conclusion is that Jesus is talking about mindfulness.

The language of meditation, mindfulness, and prayer is about paying attention, staying awake.

Through my own experience with these practices,

they do lead to seeing the kingdom of heaven

not at all times

but its amazing when it happens,

gorgeous, surprising, humbling in such a good way.

[Baptism is one of those moments that calls us to being mindful of what God is doing in the world today

We intend this baptism as a bringing in of a child to the body of Christ

but if we remember the meaning of baptism

it is nothing less than an imitation of the death and resurrection of Jesus

We are giving Logan a new life by symbolically washing him in the death and resurrection of Christ.]

If we are mindful of this moment

we can see how powerful it is

we can see how these seemingly ordinary moments are extraordinary

And this is the world of God around us at all times.

When we are mindful of the world, even for a moment

our bodies calm down, our chemical levels are given a chance to stabilize

our brains are given time to process

we can see patterns in our lives

we can hear the whispers of God

we know how precious and amazing this moment is

and how grace filled this world is.

When we are mindful we are better able to see patterns

we can recognize and acknowledge things we might not be able to see without reflection time

we are in tune with the createdness of everything

and with God.

Being mindful includes the full range of experience

death, life, sorrow, joy, generational patterns we might not see otherwise

we can't be mindful of everything all the time

but we can make mindfulness a practice

so that we are consistently checking in with ourselves and God

we are better at discerning where we are and what we need for the ups and downs of life.

I feel sadness on the part of the bridesmaids,

those women who failed to bring enough oil to last the whole wait.

They missed out on a joyful celebration of someone they knew

a precious moment.

Being mindful of the opportunities of each moment

allows us to see God.

I don't want anyone to be those women,

missing Jesus.

I want everyone to have a chance to meet Jesus in life.

Keep awake

God is doing marvelous things

here and now.