“NEVER PUT A COMMA, WHERE GOD HAS PUT A PERIOD”

MATTHEW 25:1-13

25:1  "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.

2  Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

3  When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them;

4  but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.

5  As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept.

6  But at midnight there was a shout, 'Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.'

7  Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps.

8  The foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'

9  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.'

10  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.

11  Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.'

12  But he replied, 'Truly I tell you, I do not know you.'

13  Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

“Never put a period where God has put a comma.” Believe it or not, Gracie Allen said that.  The same Gracie Allen who was famous for the comedy routines that she used to do with her husband George Burns.   She was right of course.  You should never put a period where God has put a comma.  Of course, the opposite is also true.  You should never put a comma where God has put a period.  In other words don’t put off until tomorrow what God wants you to do today.  Don’t wait.  Don’t procrastinate.   That’s the message at the heart of the Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Bridesmaids.

It’s the same message that was on display a few years ago during a Christmas parade down in North Carolina.  The people who went to the parade saw many elaborate floats pass by and then they saw a simple hay wagon that was being pulled by an old tractor.  On the wagon were several fraternity members from a nearby university.  They were madly sawing boards and nailing things together.  The puzzled looks in the crowd quickly changed to laughter though when the tractor passed by.  You see, on the back of the wagon was a sign that said, “We thought the parade was next week!”

Never put a comma where God has put a period.  Is there something that you’ve been putting off that God wants you to do now?  That’s the mistake that the foolish bridesmaids made. They didn’t go to the market when they should have to get the oil they needed for their lamps. 

They were too busy enjoying the festivities.  They were having too much fun gabbing and gossiping and giggling with each other.  Their decision to wait of course was a big mistake.  It was a decision that they came to regret.  That’s because when they finally go to get the oil that they need for their lamps the bridegroom arrives.   Everyone goes in to the banquet hall and the doors are shut.   When the foolish bridesmaids come back they begin to bang on the door and shout, “Lord, lord, open to us.”   The bridegroom though turn a deaf ear to them and says, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.”

Never put a comma where God has put a period.  Is there something that you’ve been avoiding that God wants you to do now? The parable doesn’t want you to wait to do something nice for someone.  It doesn’t want you to wait to make amends for something you shouldn’t have done.  It doesn’t want you to wait to let someone know that he or she is appreciated. 

That’s the mistake that Bud Grant made many years ago when he was the football coach for the Minnesota Vikings.  It started when Coach Grant called a running play that required Fran Tarkenton, the team’s quarterback to block a tackle for the opposing team.  Now quarterbacks almost never block in football because it puts them at risk of getting injured. The team was loosing though and Coach Grant knew they had to do something unexpected.  So Tarkenton made the block and the team scored a touchdown. The next day when the team got together to watch a videotape of the game Coach Grant complimented various players for the little things they did to help the team win.  He didn’t say a word though about Trakenton’s block.  So, after the meeting, Tarkenton went to Grant and asked if he saw the block.  The coach nodded his head.  “Sure I saw the block.  It was great.”  “Then how come you didn’t say anything about it?” Tarkenton asked. “Because,” the coach said, “you’re always working hard out there.  I figured I didn’t have to tell you.”  “Well,” Tarkenton said, “if you ever want me to block again, you do!”

Never put a comma where God has put a period.  Don’t put off until tomorrow what God wants you to do today.  Don’t wait to make peace with that person you’ve been feuding with for years.  Don’t wait to do the things that you need to do for your own sense of well being.  Maybe that means you don’t wait to stop smoking or go on that diet.  You don’t wait to start working on your prayer life or you don’t wait to pursue that dream that you’ve been putting off for one reason or another.

Don’t let fear or anger or pride keep you from doing something that God wants you to do now.  If you do then you’ll end up feeling the same way the foolish bridesmaids felt in the parable.  It isn’t hard to imagine them standing at that door with hearts full of regret.  It isn’t hard to imagine them listening to the sounds of laughter coming from the wedding banquet inside and muttering to themselves, “If only we had gone to the market earlier to get that oil for our lamps.”

The poet Alfred Lord Tennyson captured that sense of remorse in his poem “Idylls of the King.”

Late, late, so late! and dark the night and chill!

Late, late so late! but we can enter still.

Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now.

No light had we: for that we do repent;

And learning this, the bridegroom will relent.

Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now.

No light: so late! and dark and chill the night!

O let us in, that we may find the light!

Too late, too late: ye cannot enter now.

Have we not heard the bridegroom is so sweet?

O let us in, tho' late, to kiss his feet!

No, no, too late! ye cannot enter now.

The parable doesn’t want you to end up with a heart full of regret.  It doesn’t want you to get to the point where you say to yourself, “If only I had told her how much I loved her.”  “If only I had spent more time with the kids.”  “If only I had taken the time to go back to school.”  “If only I had taken better care of myself.”  Do it now so you don’t miss out on that grace filled moment, that healing moment of reconciliation, that joyful moment of triumph, that tender moment  of love.

The parable ends with these words. “Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”   Don’t put a comma where God has put a period because Jesus may come at any moment and then it will be too late.

So whatever it is that God wants you to do, do it now.  Do it now and you will experience a little bit of that wonderful banquet here on earth.   You might even experience a grace filled moment like the one that I experienced many years ago.  I was sitting at my desk in the office looking up a telephone number in my address book.   As I was doing that I saw Violet Backenstoss’s name.  Violet was a elderly woman who was a friend of one of my parishioners in my first church up in South Portland, Maine.  When I saw her name I said to myself, “I really should give Violet a call.”  I was busy though and decided, “I’ll do it tomorrow when I have more time.”  Of course tomorrow came and I forgot all about it.  A few months later I saw her name once again in my address book and said, “I really should give Violet a call – tomorrow.”  Well that happened three or four times over the course of the year and then one day it happened again. I saw her name in my address book and said, “I really should give Violet a call. I’ll do it tomorrow.”  Only this time I heard a voice say to me very clearly, “Don’t wait do it now!”   So, I picked up the phone and I called her.  When Violet heard my voice she got excited and said, “Oh this is wonderful.  Thank you for calling. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer present on my birthday!”

Yes.  Never put a comma where God has put a period.  Look!  The bridegroom is standing at the door and he’s waiting for you.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

November 6, 2011