Waiting Faithfully in the Darkness

November 12, 2017
23 Pentecost
Zion Lutheran Church – Mission Valley
Rev. Jonathan F. Meyer, Pastor

Audio of sermon

Waiting Faithfully in the Darkness – Matthew 25:1-13

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Last Sunday was All Saint’s Day, the day when the Church recalls those who have fallen asleep in Christ Jesus, giving thanks to God for their lives of Christian witness and service to others.

Last Sunday, about the time we were getting into our cars to head home or out to eat, dozens and dozens of police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks arrived at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, TX,  sirens screaming and horns blaring, filling the parking lot and street responding to frantic calls of shots fired into the congregation.

I don’t need to tell you the graphic details – the news media has done a terrifically and terribly vivid job of that for us. It is enough to say this: twenty six saints of God who gathered for worship in that sanctuary last week are now worshipping at rest with the innumerable saints of God who, like all of the faithfully departed, await the resurrection of all flesh when Jesus returns.

We’ve heard these stories before and, unfortunately, they seem to be coming more and more often. Las Vegas and Orlando, cities famous for their tourist trade, now join previously unknown towns of Sandy Hook, CT, Columbine, CO, and Paducah, KY in infamy as cities of mass shootings.  

Politicians and celebrities as well as average citizens line up on opposite sides of the argument and lob cheap shots at each opposing side, using the victims as scapegoats. One side demands control; the other demands wider freedom. One side demands oversight; the other demands looser boundaries.

The irony is both sides are wrong. The double irony is neither side can see it. This isn’t about whether a 30 round magazine is too big or not big enough; or who messed up in allowing this man to run free; it’s not about guns, or religion, or race, or social programs. This is about evil and wickedness and hatred and selfishness, and about the depths of depravity to which a human heart can fall when the devil is allowed free reign there. Once the wickedness and hatred, instruments of the devil, entered into and lodged in that man’s heart, it appears that the Lord allowed the shooter’s heart to become as hard as Pharoah, or Saul, or even King Herod.

Make no mistake, friends:  our enemy is nothing but satan himself. St. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the…spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”  and he desires nothing more than for us to take our eyes off of Jesus.

To counter the devil’s attacks, St. Paul says “put on the whole armor of God.”  “Put on…” that’s baptismal language that he picks back up from chapter 4 – put off the old self and put on the new self, created in the image of God.

You see, friends, that is the answer against the chaos of this sin-stained world that we live in: put on the armor of God, given you in your baptism. Trust the gifts of God. For the last two weeks, you have heard the power of the Gospel in the life of Carl, and the gift of God in making us saints – holy – through the blood of Jesus. Pick up and put on the grace given you in your baptism. Nothing is able to take that away from you – not a lunatic gunman, not a political party, not an unemployment notice, not  war or storm or famine or fire or flood.

Faith in Christ – that is the key. In this morning’s Gospel lesson, the bridegroom is delayed in coming to the wedding celebration. The guests are there, but five of them are ill-prepared for the long wait and don’t have enough oil to keep their Scentsy candles going. Five others, prepared with plenty of oil just in case it’s a long wait, are ready and waiting when the bridegroom returns.

This simple parable is a picture of the church on earth. Like the virgins who wait with their lamps, the church waits for Jesus’ return. Unfortunately, there are some who lack faith, or they become faithless as they wait. Fed neither by Word nor Sacrament, their faith grows cold and burns out. They will be caught unaware and unprepared on the day that Jesus does return. For them, without saving faith in Jesus, they will be left outside the marriage feast of Christ’s glorious return.

You, however, wait in faith for the return of Jesus. The wicks of your lamps are carefully trimmed as you wait with patient faith for the day when Christ returns in glory. You gather around Word and Sacrament that the Spirit of God strengthens your faith. You encourage each other as you wait together. You care for each other and support each other in the darkness of this long night until the dawn breaks.

You wait in faith because you know that Jesus has already overcome the world, In 16:33. In his death he conquered sin, death and the devil.

You have probably heard the comments made against Christians praying in the wake of the shooting. Stuff like this: Christians were praying, but it did no good. He killed 26 people. What kind of God is that? Two answers: first, God was answering prayers. We have a tendency, as humans, to be very short-sighted. We expect answers to our prayers today, tomorrow, or at least by the end of the week. God looks into tomorrow’s tomorrow’s and all the way into eternity. So, whether the comments were made by well-intended but misinformed Christians, or were made by combative media, they miss the obvious. As people were praying, “Lord have mercy,” from their sanctuary floor, God was answering many prayers by sparing lives. He answered many prayers by the two citizens who stopped the shooter. God answered prayers with the first responders who entered into an unknown situation to help the wounded and dying. And for twenty-six Christians, God answered their prayers by fulfilling His promise, “Be thou faithful unto death and I shall give you the crown of life.”

You got a glimpse of this with the Gospel lesson. I’m sure you noticed the bridegroom delays. Is it that he is unaware of his waiting guests? Doesn’t he care that his tardiness is an inconvenience?  He is waiting patiently so that others may join the bridal party in anticipatory waiting for His return. Jesus delays, not out of arrogance for those who are waiting, but out of mercy for those who do not yet see the need to wait for his return. Jesus waits…so that others might join us as we wait for His coming.

So, the question is, “How will you wait for His return?” The events of the past week would drive us to fear. The devil uses times like this to pull our eyes from Jesus. Resist that temptation. Instead, look with faith, patient faith, and eagerly wait for Jesus. I assure you that the church leadership is considering what this means for us, here at Zion. You will have to make some personal choices about personal safety and security. You are free to make those choices. But whatever choices you make, remain faithful. Trust the promises Jesus made you in your Baptism. A baptized child of God, nothing is able to separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Live your life freely as a forgiven and redeemed child of God, that others may see your sure and certain confidence in Jesus. In your faithful living, in your Christian witness, the Lord will use that so that others may join you in patient waiting for the time when Jesus returns.

In the parable, you notice, it’s dark – it’s nighttime. Frequently in the Gospels, darkness is a time of confusion, or faithlessness, or even evil. The devil does his deeds in the dark where he can hide in the shadows. The parable is set at night. This world in which we live, God’s creation – yes, but fallen as well, is in the darkness of the shadow of death. Laura and I had an English prof in college – Milt Reimer – who would end every class with the phrase, “Walk with light,” as his blessing for the class. He meant “Walk with the light of Christ.”  I encourage you, as we step into the darkness around us, to walk with light. Read your Bible – walk with light. Come to the Sacrament – walk with light. Remember your baptism – walk with light.

Walk with light – for the Bridegroom will return soon.