Dreaming of oil for my lamp
Sermon for Pentecost XXIV, 2023 Delivered at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Louisville, KY Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 , Matthew 25:1-13 Several times in my life I have had a recurring dream that I have discovered others have had, too. In it, I am wandering around some school, a high school or a college, and I’m desperately looking for a classroom that I am supposed to be in. I am filled with dread because it is finals week, and I haven’t been to class at all, and I worry about how I am going to pass the final exam. By the time I find the classroom and go in to sit down, I wake up, so I don’t know how badly I did on the exam. It’s a feeling of being unprepared like the five foolish bridesmaids in Jesus’ parable in this morning’s Gospel reading from Matthew. But this feeling that I have goes beyond just feeling unprepared to feeling like I missed out, and it’s my fault. I don’t like that dream when I have it because it leaves me feeling anxious and guilty. I wonder how those five br