November 20, 2011: Isaiah 65:17-25, Psalm 70, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, Matthew 25:1-13
“Then the Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.” Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, in this parable from St. Matthew this morning, bids us all to stay alert, to remain awake, to keep the watch for His second coming unto glory. He bids us not to lose sight of our confession in the creed, that He will come again to judge the living and the dead. He bids us not to fall asleep in the darkness of this world, as Paul echoed in 1 Thessalonians today. He bids us not to forget that the time and hour will be like a thief in the night, coming at a time when we least expect it.
And so, this parable is speaking not to two separate peoples, but to the church catholic, that is, the entire Christian Church on earth. For the distinction between the 5 wise and 5 foolish virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom, is not a distinction between believers and unbelievers, but is the difference between those who already believe. All 10 do go out with their lamps, waiting to meet the bridegroom coming to his wedding banquet and so to enter into this joyous occasion. All 10 know and are known by the groom and all 10 have been invited to the feast
But yet, what separates them is that, even though they fell asleep because of the late hour and long wait, is when the shout was given, only 5 had prepared themselves for such a delay and were ready to trim their lamps with the extra oil, all the while the other 5 had to leave to seek out the oil sellers and so were shut out of the wedding hall and missed the banquet feast. The 5 foolish virgins, as Christ called them, lost their chance at entering into the marriage supper because they had not anticipated the long wait and were not prepared and finally were shut out when the groom did come.
Which makes this parable to be a direct warning to those who are still of Christ’s church today. For as a parable speaking to and about the end of all time, Christ would have you finally know and focus on one thing here today-and that is to be found within the camp of the 5 wise virgins, awake, prepared and alert for His coming; to be sober as Paul exclaims, even though the wait for His return has been so very long.
For the Bridegroom of the parable is none other than Christ Jesus Himself and He will return at the end of all time to be united to His Holy Bride, the Church. His Church, pure and virginal in their baptism into His death and resurrection, are at wait for their Groom to come and take them into the banquet hall so to celebrate their wedding into the victory over sin, death and the devil He gives as a wedding gift to His beloved. And when He does arrive, His bride will be gathered to Him, whether they await in life or in the grave, so to enter into His rest and forever receive the glories of forgiveness, life and salvation Isaiah spoke of today.
And until that day happens, you must be found waiting and prepared, with oil at the ready so to trim your lamps when it does arrive. And what does that mean? Well, what are lamps for but to lighten the darkness; to replace the shadows of the night with the brightness of the day? And oil is the means in which the light is given and fed and the way it is continued when the wick burns down and dries up. So to be prepared with enough oil to last the time until Christ, our Groom, returns to bring about what we hope in, is to be found always alert, always at watch, always awake with a faith that will not succumb to the rigors of the wait.
This is why Paul exhorts us to keep awake and stay sober today-for the difference between those who trust in the Lord rather than trust in the world is the difference between night and day. That those who live in the night, seek and revel in the things of the dark, Paul says, and they preach “peace and security,” believing that everything will forever stay the same. And there even in the church are such people, as Peter reminded last week, saying that because He hasn’t returned in 2,000 years, the promise of His 2nd coming cannot be understood as real, but simply spiritual-and so everything will remain the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
However, as Paul countered, those who have been redeemed from the darkness of sin and death by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ do not belong to the night. And so we do not look to and live for this life, but we are sober and alert, always bearing in our minds and bodies the marks of our crucified Savior, and so ever mindful to never let the light of our hope be dimmed with a lack of faith. We do not become drowsy under the passions and pleasures of this world, but we stay vigilant, adorning ourselves with the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of hope, crying out with David in the Psalm, for the Lord not to delay any longer, but come again, and to come quickly.
And if we hold in our faith to the end, we will not be left out nor denied by the Groom as the 5 foolish were, because we waited and did not deny Him to the world, as Jesus said in Matthew 10, that “whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” That if we hold to this faith, we will not be left dead in our trespasses, but are and will be raised to eternal life because of His death and resurrection. That if we wait in the hope and patience that Christ will return, we will ushered into the hall when our Bridegroom arrives and we will forever sit down at the heavenly feast, even as we are given a foretaste of this feast to come, in the Body and Blood of our Lord’s Supper today. Amen.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, in this parable from St. Matthew this morning, bids us all to stay alert, to remain awake, to keep the watch for His second coming unto glory. He bids us not to lose sight of our confession in the creed, that He will come again to judge the living and the dead. He bids us not to fall asleep in the darkness of this world, as Paul echoed in 1 Thessalonians today. He bids us not to forget that the time and hour will be like a thief in the night, coming at a time when we least expect it.
And so, this parable is speaking not to two separate peoples, but to the church catholic, that is, the entire Christian Church on earth. For the distinction between the 5 wise and 5 foolish virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom, is not a distinction between believers and unbelievers, but is the difference between those who already believe. All 10 do go out with their lamps, waiting to meet the bridegroom coming to his wedding banquet and so to enter into this joyous occasion. All 10 know and are known by the groom and all 10 have been invited to the feast
But yet, what separates them is that, even though they fell asleep because of the late hour and long wait, is when the shout was given, only 5 had prepared themselves for such a delay and were ready to trim their lamps with the extra oil, all the while the other 5 had to leave to seek out the oil sellers and so were shut out of the wedding hall and missed the banquet feast. The 5 foolish virgins, as Christ called them, lost their chance at entering into the marriage supper because they had not anticipated the long wait and were not prepared and finally were shut out when the groom did come.
Which makes this parable to be a direct warning to those who are still of Christ’s church today. For as a parable speaking to and about the end of all time, Christ would have you finally know and focus on one thing here today-and that is to be found within the camp of the 5 wise virgins, awake, prepared and alert for His coming; to be sober as Paul exclaims, even though the wait for His return has been so very long.
For the Bridegroom of the parable is none other than Christ Jesus Himself and He will return at the end of all time to be united to His Holy Bride, the Church. His Church, pure and virginal in their baptism into His death and resurrection, are at wait for their Groom to come and take them into the banquet hall so to celebrate their wedding into the victory over sin, death and the devil He gives as a wedding gift to His beloved. And when He does arrive, His bride will be gathered to Him, whether they await in life or in the grave, so to enter into His rest and forever receive the glories of forgiveness, life and salvation Isaiah spoke of today.
And until that day happens, you must be found waiting and prepared, with oil at the ready so to trim your lamps when it does arrive. And what does that mean? Well, what are lamps for but to lighten the darkness; to replace the shadows of the night with the brightness of the day? And oil is the means in which the light is given and fed and the way it is continued when the wick burns down and dries up. So to be prepared with enough oil to last the time until Christ, our Groom, returns to bring about what we hope in, is to be found always alert, always at watch, always awake with a faith that will not succumb to the rigors of the wait.
This is why Paul exhorts us to keep awake and stay sober today-for the difference between those who trust in the Lord rather than trust in the world is the difference between night and day. That those who live in the night, seek and revel in the things of the dark, Paul says, and they preach “peace and security,” believing that everything will forever stay the same. And there even in the church are such people, as Peter reminded last week, saying that because He hasn’t returned in 2,000 years, the promise of His 2nd coming cannot be understood as real, but simply spiritual-and so everything will remain the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
However, as Paul countered, those who have been redeemed from the darkness of sin and death by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ do not belong to the night. And so we do not look to and live for this life, but we are sober and alert, always bearing in our minds and bodies the marks of our crucified Savior, and so ever mindful to never let the light of our hope be dimmed with a lack of faith. We do not become drowsy under the passions and pleasures of this world, but we stay vigilant, adorning ourselves with the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of hope, crying out with David in the Psalm, for the Lord not to delay any longer, but come again, and to come quickly.
And if we hold in our faith to the end, we will not be left out nor denied by the Groom as the 5 foolish were, because we waited and did not deny Him to the world, as Jesus said in Matthew 10, that “whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” That if we hold to this faith, we will not be left dead in our trespasses, but are and will be raised to eternal life because of His death and resurrection. That if we wait in the hope and patience that Christ will return, we will ushered into the hall when our Bridegroom arrives and we will forever sit down at the heavenly feast, even as we are given a foretaste of this feast to come, in the Body and Blood of our Lord’s Supper today. Amen.
posted by Weekly sermons at 4:58 PM
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