So we should have enough oil? For what?

The Gospel reading for Tuesday, Proper 10, Year 2, comes from Matthew 25:1-13, in which Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a group of virgins awaiting a bridegroom late for a wedding feast.  Some of the virgins brought extra oil for their lamps, and others didn't. Those who brought no extra oil asked to borrow from those who did, but were refused.  While some of the virgins were away shopping for oil, the bridegroom arrived, and when they returned, he refused to let them into the feast.

How does a parable that seems to endorse a refusal to share have anything to do with Christian life? I think this is among the most enigmatic of of the parables.

The key, if there is something as simple as a key, may be that the parable illustrates "the kingdom of heaven." Joseph Maier suggests that the kingdom of heaven may be understood not so much as a place, but as rather "the kingly rule of God."  Seraphim, an Orthodox hermit, interpreted the oil of this parable as grace gained through the good intentions that accompany good works.  The figure of the oil does seem to suggest that we are to store up something in anticipation of the day when the bridegroom, who I would take to be the figure of Christ, returns--not to avoid the bridegroom's judgment, but to join in his celebration.

The question is, what is that something? It is that something, perhaps ineffable, that allows us to see in the darkness. We store up memories for our old age. Some of us save money in anticipation that we might retire. Our ancestors stored food for the winter. What should we store, what should we keep over and beyond what we burn everyday, in anticipation of salvation?  I think Seraphim was right, or very near it: it may be grace in general.

We should pray for grace, to be aware of it. We should never think, now I have enough. We should never believe, what I have now, it can last until . . . death, resurrection, salvation. What comes between now and those days may be dark. We may need all the oil we can get our hands on.