11-8-2020 “Divided We Stand” Matthew 25:1-13 and Psalm 113

Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

Today’s Gospel Lesson is sometimes referred to as the parable of the ten virgins; sometimes it is called the parable of the ten bridesmaids. Either way, five of them are seen as wise and five are foolish. You just heard me read it: you can figure out what it is about yourself. Be prepared, for you do not know at what hour Jesus is going to return. Be like the wise bridesmaids; make sure you are ready. The parable is directed to us: we are the bridesmaids.

But I want to reflect on the bridesmaids themselves today. I am a little troubled by the response of the bridesmaids who were prepared. When the five who have no oil ask, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out,” the other five say, “No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.” While the five unprepared bridesmaids go to the store, the bridegroom arrives, and they are locked out of the wedding banquet. I know… I know… The point of the parable is not that the wise bridesmaids were to help or not help the foolish ones. I get that. Maybe it is the nature of what’s happening right now that is troubling me so much.

I began writing this sermon at around noon last Tuesday: on Election Day. I had just been to the polls and drove to Canton. I listened to the news on my way in — to reports about how voters will react after all the votes are tallied. In fact, on Monday I posted the following on Facebook: “Gov. Baker asked the National Guard to stand by.” Obviously, this was in case riots erupted as a result of the election. I didn’t even need to wait for the results to know how people felt. My friends — who run the political gamut — responded to my post, with some saying that the Democrats are sure to riot if Biden doesn’t win. Other friends said the opposite — that it will be Trump’s followers who will riot.

We are a nation divided like never before.

I remember when I was a kid, my parents would put signs endorsing candidates on our front lawn from time to time. Being Kennedy Democrats, you can guess where they stood: if it was a Democrat they felt strongly about, that name would be on an 18-by-24 inch sign out front. The couple that lived across the street were diehard Republicans. The name of the opponent would be on a sign in their front yard. One day, I asked my father if it bothered him that the Jeffries were supporting “the other” guy.

“No,” my father said, with a why would it look on his face. One time I pushed him further, asking if he was mad at Mr. Jeffrey for supporting the other candidate. He said, “Of course not.” Then he added, “This is what it means to be an American. You vote for whoever you like. Why should that have anything to do with who you are friends with?” I wish my Dad was alive right now, because I need to hear those words again.

Our nation has become so divided along political lines that we find it difficult (if not impossible) to be friends with those who vote for the opponent. We see them as having values so diametrically opposed to ours that they seem vile to us. It goes both ways: it doesn’t matter if you are a Republican, a Democrat, a Conservative, a Liberal, you name it. We are all guilty of this. I think it is safe to say that we’ve never seen such animosity when it comes to politics. In his concession speech in 1996, Bob Dole said, “I’ve said repeatedly in this campaign that [Bill Clinton] was my opponent and not my enemy. And I wish him well, and I pledge my support in whatever advances the cause of a better America because that’s what the race was about in the first place, a better America as we go into the next century.” The title of an article by John Thompson, published earlier this year, reiterates this: “My opponent is my opponent, not my enemy.”

We are like the ten bridesmaids in today’s parable: five are wise and five are foolish; five make it into the banquet and five do not; five win and five lose. Again, I know this parable has nothing to do with voting, but I cannot help but think about the division that is central to this story, and how that relates to us as a divided country.

I am somewhat of a political junkie, so I love to read and watch programs about politics. And yet, I also despise politics, because it tends to bring out the worst in us. I wish we could be more like the Gates and Mitchell families who live in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania — a suburb of Pittsburg. They were featured in a Wall Street Journal story on October 20. These next door neighbors disagree about politics. One of them has a Biden sign on their front lawn and the other a sign supporting Trump. But the families have placed other signs on their lawns: matching poster-boards which read “We Love Them” with arrows pointing at each other’s homes. The writer of the article, Clare Ansberry, asks, “So how do they get along?” Ansberry says, “They don’t argue. They don’t label each other. They listen to each other’s perspective, look for common ground and recognize that reasonable and good people can reach different conclusions.”

I began this sermon earlier in the week. At this point in my writing it’s Friday. The vote is leaning toward a Biden victory. I see the people who support him celebrating and many (though certainly not all) of those who support Trump claiming that the election was rigged. I assume that if Trump was winning at this juncture that his followers would be celebrating and many (though certainly not all) of those who support Biden would be claiming that the election was rigged. You can set your watch by such reactions.

I am tired of the rhetoric. I am tired of the division. I am tired of us judging one another based on our political preferences. Hey, I’m guilty of this, too. I have my own political views and have been very critical of the “other side” quite openly, and I am not proud of this. I am better than this. We are better than this.

It’s now late Saturday morning. A decision hasn’t been made yet, but it’s coming. (Little did I know it was just a few hours away.) But this is just the beginning. There will be court cases and rancor and even more division — at least for a while. We’ll still be divided.

But maybe we, as the church, can model a difference. One of the things I loved about this church from the start (and still love) is that our members run the gamut when it comes to political views, but that does not disrupt our fellowship. We agree to disagree, we put politics aside, and we worship God together, because we know that what binds us together is far more important than any candidate, party, or political ideology. Let’s show the world how it’s done. Let’s embody and display the love of God. As we also read this morning, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” Amen.