Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Today we begin the end. Today and the next two Sundays are
called the Last Sundays of the church year. Although each Sunday is truly a
“little Easter,” for we proclaim Christ and Him crucified and risen each Lord’s
day, these last Sundays of the church year are different. They are more somber,
their joy more subdued, their tone a little less peace-filled. The reason is
the last Sundays of the church year remind us that Christ is coming, coming
soon, and those last days before His return will be touched with wars and
rumors of war, famine and pestilence, flood, fire and earthquake. And, Jesus
warned, these are but the birth-pains, the beginning, of what is to come.
And, perhaps this year, more than the years past, that
somber, subdued-joy, and toned-down peace is appropriate. It’s been a difficult and trying year in
many, many ways. Those wars and rumors of wars, the fires and floods, we’ve
seen them both up close, in person and afar, at an electronic distance. We have
seen the fallenness of creation in a fierce and terrible way. We watched, first
in fear and then in mounting frustration, as a virus continues to affect,
effect, and infect our homes and people around us. Our television and computer
screens showed the terror of the sky glowing bright red from the tens of
thousands of acres of out-of-control wildfires to the west, and from waters
rising and winds tearing at the homes of our neighbors to the east. Farmers and
ranchers from South Texas northward have watched water holes slowly dry up
while uttering a three-word prayer, “If it rains.” And, we have seen the fallenness
of mankind. Across the nation and the
world, we saw that people have been beaten, homes and businesses destroyed,
reputations ruined, and lives destroyed by anger, hatred, and revenge against
racial, social and economic boundaries. Justice has been replaced by vigilantes
carrying not only clubs and torches but also armed with social media and sound
bites.
Through it all, day in and day out, year after year, the
message of the church remains constant: repent, for the Kingdom is near. The
Kingdom is God’s reigning in heaven and on earth through the person and
ministry of Jesus Christ, in His advent 2000 years ago, in His work in the
church today, and with the promise to return in glory. Christ is King, and in
His death and resurrection, He has conquered satan’s hold on the world. He
rules now, in a hidden way, but He has promised to return in an incredibly
visible way so that every eye shall see and every ear shall hear, and there
will no longer be any doubt or question of who and what He is: Jesus, the
Christ, the Son of God. For two thousand years, the Church has preached the
same message. From generation to generation, people of God have looked eagerly
and with anticipation for Jesus’ return. The Kingdom is near.
But, where is the King? Why is He so slow in returning? It’s
been so long, it seems, since He has been among us. What is the reason for His
delay? How much longer must we wait?
To encourage us in our waiting, Jesus tells this parable
from Matthew. It’s often called the parable of the ten virgins, but perhaps it
should instead be called the parable of the patiently slow and deliberate
bridegroom. After all, the bridegroom is the reason the virgins are there,
waiting to meet the bridegroom, watching for His arrival. Waiting and watching,
watching and waiting. The parable stands as a verbal picture, a narrative, to
remind us that Jesus will return – at His own time, at His own pleasure.
But, it seems like He is being delayed. Or, is He the one
who is delaying? Either way, it seems as
if He is taking forever. Reading the New Testament, it seems as if the
disciples, the apostles, expected Jesus to return almost immediately after His
ascension. Certainly, St. John – the last of the apostles and the only one to
die a natural, non-martyred death – concludes his spirit-given Revelation in prayer-filled
anticipation, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Come.” And, still, throughout the
history of the church, from the early church fathers, into the Reformation, and
even into the last century, faithful people of God are urged, in their own
times of loss and death and confession of faith to repent, for the Kingdom is
near.
But, more and more – and especially in our day and age, two
thousand years and counting since Jesus’ ascension, satan temps us to give up
watching and waiting, waiting and watching for our Lord’s return. It’s been so
long, he whispers. It seems – some days – as if He has forgotten, almost, of
His promised return. It seems – some times – as if He has lost interest in what
is happening among His people. It seems – some times - as if He is unaware of
what is happening to His people for His name’s sake. Why bother at all?
Why bother watching and waiting, waiting and watching?
Because Jesus will return. He has promised.
It’s easy to identify the bridegroom – He is Jesus. Likewise,
the virgins are easy to see as the people of God, the church. The virgins have
one, simple vocational task before them: to welcome the bridegroom with festal
celebration. The bridegroom will return,
even if He delays. He is returning with His bride to celebrate with His people. They must be prepared – nothing can get in
the way of the celebration. The church has one, simple task before us: to
welcome Jesus with festal celebration. He will return, even if he delays. And
He will return to celebrate with His resurrection people who are watching and
waiting, prepared for His return.
There is a difference between getting prepared and being
prepared for our Lord’s return. Being prepared is when you are the one standing
at the door on Sunday morning, coffee finished, teeth brushed, shoes on, keys
in one hand with the other hand on the door knob, ready to walk out the door
with ample time to get to church. Getting prepared is what everyone else is
doing – still finishing breakfast, brushing teeth, hunting for socks let alone
shoes, still in their own bedroom, a far distance from the door. Getting
prepared is not the same thing as being prepared.
All ten were asleep, resting, and waiting; all ten were
equally surprised when the Bridegroom arrived and the midnight cry was sounded.
Five virgins were prepared to watch and wait for the bridegroom’s return, even
if He delayed, by having extra oil in reserve. Five were ready for his
immediate arrival, but when the bridegroom’s immediate arrival became delayed,
their readiness was found lacking. They were still getting prepared, shopping
for oil, when the bridegroom returned. Despite their plea, the bridegroom
refuses to allow a delayed entrance. It’s as if they failed to know Him and be
rightly and fully prepared to meet Him, and in so doing insults the bridegroom,
his bride, and the family. Therefore He also fails to recognize them: I do not
know you. A warning in the story is repeated as Jesus says to His hearers:
“Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
The simple truth is this: We are called to be prepared for
the unknown and unknowable moment of Jesus’ return which will happen in the
most unexpected time.
So, how do we do that? Obviously, we don’t want to be
surprised, unaware and unprepared. What does it look like, then, to be prepared
in today’s day and age? Obviously, be prepared with plenty of oil. Earlier, I
said it is easy to identify the bridegroom and the virgins as the church waiting
for Jesus’ return. So, what is the oil? What does the oil signify or represent?
Be prepared, filled not with oil, but with whatever it takes
for you to be prepared to honor the Bridegroom in His arrival. Repentance is
obviously needed to be ready to welcome Jesus, and so is true and humble faith
in Christ and Christ alone for salvation. Those are constants among the people
of God. But, depending on your particular situation, your own vocation, your
own place and time, your “oil” may look similar or different from those on your
right and your left. Some may need to practice perseverance while you wait. Courage
in these dark, difficult, and dangerous times is needed, both for yourself and
for those around you. Humility keeps us ever mindful. Willingness to suffer for
the sake of Christ and the ability to deny ourselves while taking up the cross
of Jesus will be necessary at times. We may need a measure of what the beatitudes
speak: sorrowful awareness of the world’s brokenness, a yearning and longing
for God’s name to be hallowed, a desire for others to also be watchful and
prepared. There may need be separation from those who would keep us un-prepared
while also surrounding ourselves with other faithful, watching, waiting, and
prepared people of God. Encouragement may be helpful for one another with
Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Practicing mercy and compassion to the least
in the name of Jesus. Prayer is a necessity as are joy, peace, love, and all of
the fruits of the spirit. The list is almost endless of what can be the oil
which fills our lamps. [1]
Fill your lamp. Be watchful and waiting; be waiting and
watchful, always prepared for the day of Christ’s return. Be filled with
repentance and faith that others may see the light of Christ that shines from
you, that they, too, may watch and wait with you.
O Spirit, who didst once
restore
Thy Church that it might be again
The bringer of good news to men,
Breath on Thy cloven Church once more,
That in these grey and latter days
There may be those whose life is praise,
Each life a high doxology
To Father, Son and unto Thee. (LSB 834:4)
[1]
This paragraph borrows liberally from Dr. Jeff Gibbs’ commentary on Matthew,
Vol. 3. Concordia: St. Louis, 2019. pp. 1323-1324.
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