Car Talk
Matthew 25:1-13
Last Saturday morning I began the weekend by listening to Car Talk on National Public Radio. How many of you are familiar with Car Talk? It is a production of Dewey, Cheetham and Howe and can be heard on Saturday mornings or on the Car Talk website. It a very entertaining hour that focuses on cars, car problems as well as the car owners themselves whose issues may or may not have something to do with a car. The hosts of the show are Tom and Ray Magliozzi, otherwise known as “Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers.” The show describes itself by asking you to “Imagine the Marx Brothers answering questions about automobiles. Picture Monty Python trying to imitate car noises. Think of A.J. Foyt telling someone how to open the car hood. Mix it all up, throw in a little Dr. Ruth and a little Smothers Brothers, and you've got Car Talk, NPR's Peabody Award-winning radio program.” It is an hour of laughter, humor, puzzlers, many bad puns and at times some pretty good car advice.
For example in a past show, Morris from Nashville Tennessee calls in with an oil question. He owns a 2003 Subaru Legacy and wanted to know when a car really needs an oil change. Tom and Ray however are much more interested in the fact that he is calling from Nashville and has a heavy English accent. Morris however, really wants to know how often the oil should be changed and he points out that the Subaru dealer recommends an oil change every 3000 miles. He had heard that 7500 miles was just as good and wondered if the 3000 mile recommendation was just a plot to get owners to bring their car in more often, resulting in the owners spending more money. Tom and Ray agree that these day engines are built much better and they think a good compromise would be about 5000 miles for an oil change. In addition, Morris had mentioned that he had the nicest wife in the world but Ray challenges him by saying that he has the nicest wife in the world. He begins to wonder if the nicest wife is the same person.[1]
Car talk also has puzzlers each week. Here is one:
PUZZLER In the early 1930's a young inventor came up with an idea for a little gadget which could be installed in an automobile. Even though people were afraid it would be distracting to drivers, the gadget sold out within minutes of production. What was the gadget?
ANSWER: The little gadget was the radio invented by Bill Lear, who is best known for inventing the Lear Jet and forming a huge corporation, Lear Incorporated.
And lastly for today, Car Talk also has write-in questions on their website.
“Hello - I have a Mitsubishi Mirage 2000. A month and a half ago I paid for an oil change at a local car wash. About a month ago while driving my oil lamp turned on, at which time I immediately pulled over and checked the oil. I had to add 2 quarts to bring it to the "almost full" level. The engine has now a ringing noise that appears for a while and then disappears. Could this mean that the engine has been damaged? Also I looked underneath the car and drops of oil seem to be leaking from the oil pan. I cleaned them up to see if they would come back and by the next morning they re-appeared. Now I have to add a quart of oil every week. What should I do??? I know that if I go to the car wash they will deny it.” [2] It receives a handful of advice including the fact that car washes are not reliable places to get the oil changed, as well as recommendations to find and use a real mechanic.
And one of the best parts of the hour long show - is when they sign off. They acknowledge all their staff and it seems that they have a lot of staff including their;
Bad Joke Interpreter Nadia Geddit
Director of Staff Bonuses Holly Unlikely
Air Traffic Controller Ulanda U. Lucky
Animal Control Officer Turner Luce
Biblical Scholar Vera Lee Isay
Children's Music Programmer Al Lowetta
Creative Director Drew A. Blank
Credit Counselor Max Stout
Coordinator, 12-Step Recovery Program Cody Pendant
Director of Standard Time Red Auerbach[3]
On Sunday evening, by chance or by divine direction I read the lectionary reading for this week and it had to with oil, a different kind of oil, but I made a mental, spiritual and creative connection and decided to name the sermon Car Talk. The lesson is from Matthew 25:1-13, the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, a story Jesus tells about five foolish and five wise bridesmaids who went out at night with their oil lamps to await the arrival of the bridegroom for the wedding banquet. He is late, they fall asleep and are awakened at the announcement that he is about to arrive. The bridesmaids all trim their lamps –but five are out of luck because they didn’t bring along any extra oil and are now considered foolish. Five of them had brought along extra oil for their lamps and are now considered wise. While the five foolish go off (at midnight) to buy more oil, the bridegroom comes, the party begins, the door is shut and upon their return the five foolish maidens are not admitted to the party. Jesus concludes the story with advice about being prepared and being ready.
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” 25:13
This is a story that Jesus tells about end times, it is eschatological in nature but not in its direction. During the life and times of Jesus, people were very concerned about the end of time and the end of the world and when it might happen. In Matthew 24 Jesus is telling them that the future will bring wars, false prophets, famine, earthquakes and persecution. He points out that those things will happen in this world and but he also clearly says “No one knows about that day or hour, but only the Father.” Even Jesus doesn’t know when the time will come and he goes on to tell this parable of the bridesmaids and the future wedding banquet in order to encourage believers to be strong – be faithful – be wise. We are not to be complaisant in our living and fall asleep at the wheel. It is eschatological in nature because it has to do with future things but its direction reminds us not to fall asleep and be complaisant – but to keep on living every day – one day at a time - full of hope and purpose and filled with faith. The oil in the lamp is symbolic of our faith – it is our reservoir of faith and we all need to carry with us an extra measure of faith which will help us get through good times, hard times and end times.
On Tuesday our country held a Presidential election and by Wednesday morning – some rejoiced that it was the dawn of a new era of hope and possibility, while others believed that it was the end of the age as we know it. Most of us probably received email forwards in our inbox this past week, some of which were warnings of gloom and doom and others that were celebrations of hope and joy. Those voices of both warning and of hope were also heard on television and radio talk shows as well as read in the letters to the editor sections of papers. Some, but not all, of the voices that were happy 4 years ago are now warning us that the end of the age is upon us, while voices that were discouraged 4 years ago are now celebrating and living with great expectations. This apocalyptic rhetoric, or gloom and doom rhetoric is defined as discourse that focuses on the current negative state of things and it uses sensationalism and fear to try control the conversation and direction of events. This rhetoric can be found in the political, economic and religious arenas of our life and society and those voices can be both conservative and liberal. And those voices can be found in our personal life when we are surrounded by people who are constantly negative and are trying to control our emotions or actions and use fear, gloom and doom as a tactic.
If we listen to them we become scared, fearful, paralyzed and we cannot act and certainly cannot live with hope. Just as the people in the scriptures were concerned with the end of time, Jesus reminds us to always be hopeful, to be alert and to be wise. Don’t fall asleep or let yourself be paralyzed when voices of gloom and doom try to overwhelm you. Listen and be alert for the sensationalism and pay attention to how it is affecting you. Stop, pray and use the reservoir of faith that God has given you. Be wise and discerning. Take care of your emotional and spiritual state, looking and living forward into each new day with hope and with prayer.
On Wednesday I was blessed to hear people sharing how they lived one day a time and made prayer a practice of their day. Prayer filled their daily reservoir of faith. For some this time of prayer occurred in their car – and I realized this was a spiritual type of Car Talk. They shared that driving times were quiet times, musical times, reflective times and times for prayer. One woman considered her car a sanctuary – a place where she could connect with God. A place to talk and to listen to God. It was a place where she could offer prayers of gratitude, prayers of intercession for certain issues that tug on her heart. And on her driving route, she would often pass by a number of churches and chapels and she made it a practice to stop, go in, sit down and pray. Spiritual CarTalk – a time to fill up the reservoir of faith.
On Thursday I ended up having a lot of spiritual car talk. Thursday is my day off and I left early in the morning to drive to New York for a flute lesson. This would be the second time I would drive three hours for a lesson and I left Groton at 7AM. On the Mass Pike somewhere Springfield I fill my car up with gas and about ten minutes later my oil light comes on. I think that it must have to do with the gas cap – and decide it probably wasn’t on tight enough. I check the little tag on my windshield and notice that I was overdue in changing my oil but it had not been more than 5000 miles since I had my last oil change – and I thought I would be ok - but did begin to have a little more serious car talk conversation with God.
However when I slow down and go through the toll booth at the end of the Mass Pike I can clearly hear a loud clicking noise coming from under my car. I don’t stop - I keep going. I call Eddie and he is concerned that there may not be any oil in my car. But I keep going and have another hour drive down the Taconic State parkway – so he suggests that after I get there and have the flute lesson that I check the oil after it had sat still for awhile.
After the two hour flute lesson, Julie who is the flute teacher and I go out to her driveway to check the oil. I pull out the dip stick and there is no oil on it and no place indicating any level of oil in my engine. And even though Julie was a flute teacher – she knew car engines pretty well and tells me that I am fortunate to have made it to her driveway. So I had a little more spiritual car talk with God.
Fortunately I had a small reservoir of oil in the trunk. Eddie had put a quart of oil in the back quite a while ago – and so I open the oil cap and pour it into the engine. Julie sends me two miles down the road to one of those quick oil change places with a car wash – and the name – I kid you not – is the Be-Wise Oil Change and Car Wash in LaGrangeville New York. I pull in and explain to the two young men working on the garage side about my car situation and they take it inside. They work on it for about a half an hour, changing the oil, making sure there were no leaks and I would be able to safely make the three hour drive back.
As I sat in the waiting room of the Be Wise Oil Change and Car Wash – I had more time to talk to God. I tried not to let myself go into my own gloom and doom thinking about what might have happened if I had broken down or if my engine had seized up. It is very easy for me to stay on the edge of anxiety thinking - for anything - be it political, economic, religious or personal. If I let myself get drowsy or dreamy in my thinking – I can take myself and my emotional state to places that can paralyze me or make me sad. I am not alone in that. Working with the roller coaster that is our emotions is hard mental and spiritual work. We need to be wise, be alert and be discerning. And so on Thursday I choose to stay in a moment of gratitude and thanksgiving – even as I promised that from now on I would change the oil in my car on schedule. As I left – I listened to God and to my car and with the newly changed oil now running through the engine – the car was no longer making any clicking noises and eventually the check engine light went off.
It is also so important to have our own reservoir of faith filled and flowing through us because it sure makes our days and our life run a bit more smoothly.
Well I want to thank you for listening today….and I want to thank everyone who makes this community of faith run as smoothly as possible. We are always thankful for all the work that is done in love and with hope on behalf of our great and loving God. This week I would particularly like to thank these new folks who have agreed to serve our church community;
Chair of the Board of Fun Wanda Laughornot
Wedding Banquet Coordinator Part E. Planner
Russian Wedding Cake Decorator Ivana Lotta Icing
Wedding Accountant Bill Me Parents
Lighting Department Specialist Be Oil-Wise
Chair of the Board of Faith Phyllis Up
So thank you and we’ll see you next week at the same time and the same place…
Amen.
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