Transcript
This transcript was generated by YouTube AI and further edited by AI for readability.
May only truth be spoken here and only truth be heard.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Please be seated.
I got a song for you today. You ready? I need a drum.
Keep your lamps trimmed and burning.
Keep your lamps trimmed and burning.
Keep your lamps trimmed and burning.
The time is drawing nigh.
Children, don’t grow weary.
Children, don’t grow weary.
Children, don’t grow weary till the day is done.
Keep your lamps trimmed and burning.
Keep your lamps trimmed and burning.
Keep your lamps trimmed and burning.
The time is drawing nigh.
That was a spiritual sung by enslaved people in the fields of the South of this country, by weary people. Children, don’t grow weary till the day is done.
I said last Sunday to a few different people, are we not blessed by our music minister and our choir and the musicians of this community who serve here? Are we not blessed? And last Sunday, All Saints Sunday, it was like I said to many people, I was like, “On a day like this, with music like this, the preacher can just read you the phone book and everybody will leave church saying, ‘Wow.’” Because sometimes all you need is a song in your heart. Sometimes how you really hear the word is the song in your heart.
In this song, keep your lamps trimmed and burning. And the beat! It speaks to the turning. Our year is turning now. The day is drawing near. The world has turned again this week. Children, don’t grow weary.
The season of Ordinary Time, which we are in the last three weeks of, began at the start of summer with Pentecost. It is a season, right? We wear green, the color of growth, because it is a season for disciples growing in Christ. But on these last three Sundays, the world is turning and we are turning, and we are orienting toward what it is that has had us growing, what we have been growing toward, what we have been growing for. We start to watch for the true light that enlightens all people, who was coming into the world—at Christmas, right? And even as we close the church year and close the season of Ordinary Time, we begin to turn, and now we are turning toward that season of Advent. It’s not Advent yet, but things start to feel like we are waiting, and we are lifting up our eyes and looking at the horizon, and we are watching and waiting, singing our song.
There are ten bridesmaids. Some are wise and some are silly. They all prepare the same way. We all prepare the same way. We get our lamps. We trim them, right? We bring what we think we need for the wait. And we wait, and we wait, and we wait, and we all grow drowsy. Then we all fall asleep. We all fell asleep.
And in the middle of the night, we hear a voice: “Wake up. He is coming.” So we all got up and we got our lamps. They’re still burning. But I saw mine was low. And so I said to my neighbor, “I’m almost out of oil. I don’t know if I’ll have enough until he gets here. I don’t know if I’ll have enough. Can you share yours with me? Will you lend me a bit of your light?”
And she said, “Then there will not be enough light.” She said, “You had better go and look for it somewhere else.”
And I believed her, and I ran off looking for more light. Although the true light that was coming into the world was on its way. And if I had stood my ground, I would have seen. I never needed to make that light. It was given to me when I was born. I only need to be still, and let my light so shine before others, and fix my eyes on the true light that is coming into the world.
And if I am afraid that I don’t have enough to keep me going until the wait is over, I need to remember what he said: “Let your light so shine before others that all who see it may glorify God.” I need to remember that my light is to be shared. If I see someone else who is flickering, I say, “Come stand by me.” We have enough together to get us through. The true light which is coming into the world will sustain us.
Keep awake. Stand your ground and fix your eyes on the true light which is coming into the world, which shines within you, however faintly. You do not have to be afraid that it will run out. When you are afraid, stand near someone else and watch for the light. The true light which is coming into the world.
The time is drawing nigh.
Amen.