WELCOME TO THE SUMMER SERIES WEDNESDAY!
This year, unlike past years, the Cottage Summer special is open to all subscribers (paid and free) as a gift to nurture your spirit this Pentecost season.
In addition to these Wednesday posts on the parables in A Beautiful Year, paid subscribers have access to weekly recorded conversations during Parables & Pentecost.
At the conclusion of this series, pastors, book group or Bible study leaders are welcome to use these posts as the basis for 6-week sermon series or with small groups. All you need to do is give credit to the Cottage and encourage people to read A Beautiful Year.
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Today, we explore the story of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids in our summer series on Parables and Pentecost.
A wee reminder: the word “parable” means to “overturn” or “cast aside.” The parables are STORIES told by Jesus and intended to upset what we think!
Today’s parable continues the task of casting off convention.
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The audio excerpt is courtesy of my publisher from the audiobook version of A Beautiful Year, “The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids.” If you are reading the book, it is found on pages 247-251; in the e-book, this parable is in the Pentecost section.
Read and reflect on this parable. How do you feel about this story? Where are you in the story? Does this parable challenge you — and us — at this moment in history?
Explore the suggestions below for further reflection and understanding — as you choose.
This isn’t a homework assignment! This is an invitation and a guide. Think about all three topics or pick one. Leave comments and observations. Read the comments of others and learn from the community. Reply to each other. I’ll jump into the thread a few times during the day.
Ask questions, wonder together.
THE STORY
The parable itself is found only in Matthew 25:1-13. It is most commonly read in November to prepare for Advent, but I included it here because the parables are a popular summer theme.
The kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept.
But at midnight there was a shout, “Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the wise replied, “No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.”
And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us.” But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.*
WHAT IS THIS STORY ABOUT?
How would you explain this story to someone who had never heard it before? What’s the point? Is there more than one point to this parable?
Do you like the story? Do you not like it? Does it puzzle you? Anger you? Make you resentful? What emotions does it stir? Be honest!
What do you think a person who’d never heard this story before make of it?
Do you think it is better described as a moral parable, an example parable, or a challenge parable? It is tempting to say “all three,” but which of these styles is most prominent?
THE STORY AND YOUR STORY
WHAT DOES THIS STORY MEAN TO YOU NOW?
When did you first hear this story? How many times do you think you’ve heard it? Have you heard it in other forms (film, novel, poetry, art, music) in addition to the biblical story?
To which character do you most relate? Who garners your sympathy? Who is the hero of this story? Is there a villain? Who do you like the most? The least?
How has your understanding of this story changed over the years? What stands out for you differently today than at other times in your life? As you re-read it or listen to my reflections on it, what surprised you? Is there something you’ve never noticed before?
THE STORY AND OUR STORY
During the first week of this series, John Dominic Crossan joined with the paid subscriber community in an online conversation about the parables.
We focused on how the parables challenged empire, how they present an alternative to Christian nationalism, and how they widen our vision toward evolutionary — and revolutionary — possibilities for a sustainable, peaceable future for humankind.
In his book, The Power of Parable, Crossan interprets this parable an “unconventional challenge” parable — a story that disregards “the institutions and conventions” of society.
Crossan identifies that format of this parable as folklore, a story with a feature common to much of the genre:
“Throughout Jesus’ parables, we find…the tendency toward polarizations, especially of ‘good’ versus ‘bad,’ ‘ins’ versus ‘outs,’ ‘haves’ versus ‘have-nots,’ and those who fail versus those who succeed.”
A traditional folklore format lends itself to “sanctioning” established beliefs, and served as a way to form people in oral societies — this shared storytelling also shaped shared communal ethics.
But Crossan argues that Jesus bent the folkloric convention and turned familiar formats toward “unconventional challenges” to those shared beliefs, thus “the unconventional calling parable and the conventional folklore story are set on a collision course.”
Thus, the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids means to upset convention by twisting the story. Hearers should have walked away from the story wondering: Who’s really wise? Who’s really foolish?
I didn’t know Crossan’s categorization when I wrote my post on the this parable. But I intuited what Jesus was doing! When you think of a wedding and preparedness, you already have a story in your mind (I refer to that as the “Scout leader” version of the parable). Although the characters and setting are conventional, the whole thing is upside down — this is the worst wedding ever!
I can only imagine Jesus’ first hearers laughing like crazy at this story — at the conventional “wisdom” it offered. This is more comedy than anything else. But that comedy also makes a serious point.
Maybe they were grateful that they had been invited to a completely different party, the one that hadn’t started yet.
HOW DOES THIS PARABLE CHALLENGE YOU — AND US — AT THIS SPECIFIC MOMENT IN HISTORY?
If parables are supposed to upset conventional wisdom — and Jesus reverses the formula of the folklore tale — what is the convention being overturned?
I’ll ask again. Who’s wise? Who’s foolish here? Notice that artist He Qi calls his painting of this parable “The Clever Bridesmaids.” Who is clever and why?
What is most challenging for you? For your community? What’s the challenge for NOW socially, politically, or economically?
What has wisdom got to do with our struggles now, for justice and for compassion? What kinds of “wisdoms” do you see operating around you? What is the “wisdom of this world” versus the “wisdom of God”?
Reflect on “for the wisdom of this world is foolish with God.” How does this insight speak to the confusion and chaos of our times?
An example parable may be good, a challenge parable is a far more importantly subversive operation. Why? Because challenge parables humble our prejudicial absolutes, but without proposing counter-absolutes in their place. They are tiny pins dangerously close to big balloons. They push or pull us into pondering whatever is taken totally for granted in our world.
— John Dominic Crossan
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INSPIRATION
Talk about an upsetting parable! Here’s a contemporary poetic spin on this folklore tale that knocked me for a loop!
Grab a lamp. Off we go.
Here’s our secret:
We are all wise.
We go not to meet the bridegroom
but to avoid him altogether,
for a woman needs a man
like a fish needs a camel.
We will talk among ourselves
about the taste of wine,
sharing the bottle,
the price of oil,
and the lamp that helps us see ahead
in the moonless dark.
We gather on the edge of the city
where we will not be followed
by clownish men orating
scripture and sin. One day
we will outnumber them.
Our laughter perfumes the desert,
and the dust from our sandals
will choke all predators
as we return to our rooms
and scribble our verses
well past midnight.
— Donna Pucciani, “The Wise and Foolish Virgins”
