On Sunday we attended fellowship at Victory Living Word Church, here in Kawempe, Uganda. This is Pastor Johnson's church and we love it every time we're able to attend. This past Sunday was no exception. I made some notes that I wanted to share, but I'm just not getting a chance to do that.
Pastor Johnson was sharing from Matthew 25: 1-13, the parable of the 10 virgins waiting on the bride groom. In summary, 10 virgins go out to wait for the arrival of the bridegroom. 5 of them took oil (referred to as wise) and the other 5 did not (referred to as foolish). They all fell asleep while waiting but were risen at midnight by shouts of his arrival. The wise 5 were ready, but the foolish 5 had to go to buy oil to use their lamps. They arrived late to the wedding banquet. They knocked and said, "Lord! Lord, let us in!" He replied, "I tell you the truth, I do not know you."
The parable ends with this directive: "therefore stay alert, because you do not know the hour or the day [of the Son of Man's return]."
Pastor Johnson began to explain that many Christians are "asleep." He talked about those who are asleep here in Uganda, and he also talked about those who are asleep in America. There is an over all belief that things in America are so great and there are no worries. Americans are all serving the Lord and all their needs are met: spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, etc. Of course, my American friends know that there are plenty of struggles in America. Yes, the physical situation is different, even for the poor in America, but there are struggles and even great suffering. There is also great wealth and abundance, which brings it's own struggles.
Pastor Johnson was specifically referring to America because of this belief. He wants his congregation to understand that getting to America would not solve their problems, or awake them from the sleep, or make them better followers of Christ. They must see that their problems are here but Christ is sufficient for them right here in Uganda.
I have always told my children, my Ugandan friends, and my American friends (especially my students, many of whom assumed that since I lived in McKinney, I could not understand their struggles), the same thing. We live in a fallen world. Because the world is fallen, there is no place in which you will not find troubles. There are problems everywhere, the problems just look different from the outside.
So, here's what jumped out at me.
Slumber = losing sight of the Lord, taking our focus off Him.
When life is too easy, we are prone to slumber.
When life is difficult, we are prone to slumber.
It is common to hear the idea that we are most focused on the Lord when we need him. When things get bad or something awful happens we cry out to the Lord.
On Sunday, I suddenly had a new realization. It makes sense to say that we can lose our focus on the Lord when things are going well, all is right, and our needs are met. But, when things are tough, we don't turn to the Lord right away. The human tendency is to focus on our problems and how we can solve them. It might be trying to come up with enough money to fix your car or your air conditioner or whatever is broken. It might be trying to figure out how you'll pay for your mortgage or rent. It might be that you're not sure where the grocery money is coming from, so your looking for options: a food pantry, food stamps, a payday loan, etc.
When things are rough, we usually try to figure it out first. Only once it is really bad or we've tried everything or it's something horribly tragic, like a death or accident, etc., do we finally turn to the Lord. We wait until we've exhausted all options, then we cry out, "Abba, Father!"
(I remind you, I am not speaking about everyone in all situations, but rather the general, human tendency.)
This realization made me even more aware of the commonality of this small world. Whether here in the poverty of Uganda or in the poverty of America or the wealthy places of Uganda or the wealthy places of America, we all struggle with the same primary problem. We are too easily put to sleep.
Just like I have said, the problem is the same, it just looks different on the outside.
So as not to leave with only identifying the problem, here is a great summary I read of what it means to be awake vs. being asleep.
Just what does being alert look like? In Matthew 24:45-51, Jesus describes how He desires to find His disciples when He does return “ going about the tasks He has assigned them. The “faithful and wise slave” knows that his master may not return for some time, but he also knows that he has been instructed to feed and care for his fellow slaves (Matthew 24:45). And so he uses the time of his master’s absence to fulfill his mission. And because this is his normal routine, his master will find him at his appointed work when he returns, even though the hour of his return is unknown (Matthew 24:46-47). The evil slave interprets his master’s prolonged delay very differently. He concludes that his master’s return is yet in the distant future. He may also assume that he will be given some forewarning, so that he will have time to “clean up his act” in time to look good for his master. And so he misappropriates his master’s resources and ignores his master’s instructions. Instead of caring for his fellow slaves by feeding them, he feeds himself and his cronies, indulging himself and others in that which should be given to his fellow slaves. This man will be cut in two and assigned to hell with his fellow hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 24:48-51).
This excerpt is from an article on Bible.org. It is a bit long but definitely worth the read. Feel free to check it out at https://bible.org/seriespage/ten-virgins-what-it-means-be-ready-matthew-251-13
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