Tag: Matthew 25:1-13

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Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 27A)

Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lebanon, OR

Text: Matthew 25:1-13

What a mess the world is.  Thank God that we have the Church.  Thank God that we can confess, “I believe…in the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.”  Thank God for that sanctuary in the everlasting Word of God and the assurance of eternal rest and joy!

This is what the Parable of the Ten Virgins is about: Promised rest for the faithful of God in being separated from the multitude of unbelievers.  It’s comfort and assurance that the Lord knows those who are His through faith, and that the faithful will enjoy the fulness of God’s salvation.

Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.

Five were foolish and five were wise, but it wasn’t totally apparent until the Bridegroom’s final summons.  Here God is giving His people assurance from above, because who the foolish and who the wise are isn’t clear on earth.  All you can find on earth is doubt.  The church appears to be a mess.  False teachers are successful, true teachers are scorned. Despite ample Bibles, hardly anyone endeavors to learn God’s Word.  Immorality is flaunted under the banner of grace and acceptance.  The big churches are those which feed people a diet of inch-deep Gospel and lots of sanctified law, while those that teach the Word of God purely are in small and struggle. 

Another problem is when we look for assurance that we’re wise virgins, the faithful children of God, in the wrong place.  This is the danger of self-absolution and self-assurance.  It’s ultimately self-delusion.  I feel comfortable, one might say, no pangs of conscience, so I must be good with God.  That’s the error of looking for God’s judgment in your feelings or circumstances.  Another person might say, I trust that God is merciful. I believe [vaguely] in Him…isn’t that enough for Him to be pleased with me? This is the delusion of doing good will get you in God’s favor. It’s companion is, I haven’t done anything too awful…I mean not like other people have done to me.  God doesn’t judge by comparing one to another, as if the wise virgins are let in because of their prudence.  Lastly, there’s the delusion that because I belong to and am active in church, I am therefore a Christian and heir of eternal life.  The very thing this Parable exposes is the foolish idea that outward membership or participation with the Church saves.

What kind of surprise would it be to get to the Day of the Lord, and find out you had it all wrong?  You had not been truly repentant, just frustrated, angry at God for not helping you more.  Your faith was not in a merciful God who has compassion on helpless people, but in a deep-seated desire that one way or another you deserve God’s rest after all you’ve endured and done.  God forbid that this should happen to any of us!

Our Lord teaches in this Parable that a genuine, living faith is what makes the difference:

6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

In those days, the wedding day stared with the bridegroom leaving his house to pick up his bride from her family’s place. Then they took the longest possible route around town to see everyone they could. Only when that was finished did everyone go to the wedding feast. However, no one knew how long it would take. The ten virgins, part of the wedding party, waited along the route. They all knew it would likely be after dark when the bride and groom arrived, so they had brought lamps. But only five were prepared for it to be very late indeed. They brought just enough extra oil to finish the circuit. The other five did not.

The foolish were so because they imagined that waiting for the Bridegroom was a quick, easy task, well within their own ability.  They may have even started out with plenty of zeal.  But faith is not conjured up from inside us; “it is the gift of God,” Paul says, “not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:9).  But then the years drag on, you’re tempted and hurt.  Life brings you low, and you flounder because you’re God’s child and shouldn’t it be easier if you’re doing the right thing?

But their faith flickers out. They still go to church regularly next to the wise virgins.  Yet, something has happened in their soul—a hardening of heart.  Their purpose consists in walking the walk of a virgin, hoping that will save them.

The words of Amos hit home to those who are without oil when the Lord returns: “Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?” (Amos 5:18-20)

If this describes you or has described you, repent and flee from a Christianity that is strained by idolatry.  Do not let your devotion, knowledge, attendance record or anything else but Jesus Christ be your Savior.  Only trust in His holy life, His innocent suffering and death, and His glorious resurrection can assure you of entering the marriage feast.  And only trust that He is able to keep you steadfast and ready for His return and the time in between!

Every time we pray, “Thy Kingdom come,” we are praying for the steadfastness of the wise virgins and the rousing of the foolish before that Day.  We pray for hearts that hear the whole counsel of God with faith.  Our Lord tells us in the last days that love will grow cold and we will become so absorbed with our own problems we are oblivious to the cries of others, that our itching ears will want teachers who tell us what we want to hear rather than need, that we will be deceived by the fearmongering and divisions in which worldly people delight.  That is to say, we will all like Peter, James, and John, fall asleep when they ought to be watching.  The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Yet even in your weakness, the Lord does not fail you.  “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out…40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:37-40)

His final message in this Parable is, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”  Keep watch by resting in Him, not in self-security and self-delusion, but by being on guard for your weakness, for temptations, and the devil’s lies.  We do not know the day nor the hour of His return, but we’re not running on our own steam.  He daily supports His own through His Word and the consolation and power of Absolution and His Supper.  We know neither the day nor the hour, but for as long as it is, with Him upholding us, we will wait with faithful hearts for our summons from this life and the call into His marriage feast which has no end.

Where Amos warned the unprepared, Paul’s message in 1 Thessalonians encourages us in our wait for Christ’s coming: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thess. 4:16-18)

Even today, He gives us who wait for Him, a foretaste of that Day and that Feast.  He invites us to a foretaste of that supper as we kneel at table with Him.  And in His Supper, He renews our watch and strengthens our hands.  We do not wait for Him alone, because we are already united in His one Body, the Church.  Therefore as we come to the Feast He has prepared for us, we join “with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify His glorious Name.” (LSB 194, Proper Preface)

Behold, beloved of the Lord, the Bridegroom has come and earnestly desires [Luke 22:15] to eat this feast with you here, and for all eternity.  Amen.

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Last Sunday of the Church Year (Matthew 25:1-13)

Bethlehem Lutheran & Bethel Lutheran Church, Lebanon & Sweet Home, OR

Last Sunday of the Church Year + November 25, 2018

Text: Matthew 25:1-13

            We can all agree that being prepared is important.  If you are prepared for something, it will be easier to meet when it comes.  This is true of things we know when to expect, like Christmas, bills, school assignments, or retirement.  But it’s also true of things we don’t have a date on, like natural disasters and when the car will break down.

            Despite how important it is, preparing for the future is often shuffled to the bottom of priorities.  Bankrate.com released a study indicating that 36% of American workers have absolutely nothing saved for retirement.[1]  We all know that earthquakes and floods can and do happen, but how many of us actually have stores of water and food for these events?

            In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, our Lord is talking about preparation.  We may not have a date on it, but we know—because God’s Word is true—that Christ will return.  Even tomorrow is not promised to any of us, but the Lord’s coming in glory is.  His coming will be like a “thief in the night”[2] but for those who are prepared, this will not be a shock.  In order to prepare us, so that we will not be caught off guard, Jesus tells this parable: 

1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.

After nation has risen against nation, famines, earthquakes, great tribulation, false prophets, and frightful signs in the heavens,[3] the return of Christ will be a relief for the God’s people.  At last our Savior has come! They will shout, “This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”[4]

But then comes the shock: not everyone who is waiting for the Lord enters into the Marriage Feast!  Haven’t all ten been prepared?  All have dressed themselves for their Bridegroom’s return.   They all have their lamps handy.  They even all fell asleep in waiting for the Bridegroom.  So why are five wise and five foolish?

It’s has to do with the oil.  The five wise had oil to last the wait, but the foolish only brought enough for the moment.

6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’

It seems that the wise are coldhearted toward their companions.  How can this be an example of charity?  The virgins have oil and they are not willing to share!

The real trouble is they are not able to share because the oil is living faith, and each must have his own.  Verse 1 in Greek makes a special point that that each has her own lamp.  To be sure, Christians are commanded to share material things with those in need, but faith is something that one person cannot give to another.  As Martin Luther began one of his sermons,

The summons of death comes to us all, and no one can die for another. Every one must fight his own battle with death by himself, alone. We can shout into another’s ears, but every one must himself be prepared for the time of death, for I will not be with you then, nor you with me.[5]

The reality is that each of us must be prepared with his or her own faith.  Faith is a gift from God, but it is one that each needs to have and treasure above all else in this life.

            Jesus tells this parable to His disciples.  He speaks to those in His Church, not to those outside.  The ten virgins stand for the whole of all who consider themselves Christians.  Enough has been said by the Lord to those who reject His Word for themselves—Muslims, Hindus, agnostics, and atheists.  But Jesus is our Lord and He has every right to our attention.

            It is also fitting that He has our attention now, because the time is coming when we will all grow drowsy and sleep.  None of us can escape death (which the Lord calls sleep more than once).[6] He tells us that the sleep of death will come to us all before His return.  As the Apostle Paul says, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”[7]

             The virgins are decked out for the Bridegroom’s return.  No doubt they are all beautifully clad and full of anticipation.  As Psalm 45 foretells, “All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold. In many-colored robes she is led to the king, with her virgin companions following behind her.”[8]  The Church, the Bride of Christ is waiting eagerly for His return.

            But it turns out for all their preparations, the foolish virgin companions have run out of oil.  They would have been fine if the Lord had come back immediately, but He delayed in returning. 

Now, this has a lot to say to us as Lutherans, who move heaven and earth to get our children baptized, but then never bring them to church again.  It speaks to parents who could care less about the Divine Service until 7th grade hits, and suddenly their junior high student must be confirmed.  Pastor Mark Surburg calls confirmation the “magic talisman of the Lutheran Church,” that parents and children go to great lengths for a moment in time, but neglect training in godliness for the rest of life’s journey.

            The Lord also warns everyone who would trust in virgin garments.  Even though you rarely miss a Sunday at Church, and though you gave generously in the offering plate, and though you sponsored every one of the pew Bibles, none of this will win you the Bridegroom’s eye.  The Apostle to the Hebrews and St. Paul both agree, “Without faith, it is impossible to please God” and “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”[9]

            The wise virgins know this, but the foolish virgins, like the goats from last week, think they can make an appeal to seniority and that their dedication counts for something.  Once fed at the rich table of Law and Gospel preaching and the comfort of the Sacraments, they leave to subsist on scraps at their friend’s non-denom church.  They move to college, get divorced, or lose their job and decide that church they were at is what’s wrong with their life.  They marry an unbeliever and think they’ll save him by sitting next to him on the couch.

            Empty lamps with the flame burning out is what all of us become unless we are regularly filled by the Lord.  If the Lord brought us to heaven immediately, we might be fine.  But He doesn’t.  He tarries, and the journey of life is long.  “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”  Be prepared for the whole span of your life.

            When it comes to preparing for things like retirement or an upcoming trip, the emphasis is on our work and our decisions.  If we don’t save or we don’t pack, we’ll be sorry.  But when it comes to being a wise virgin, the Lord prepares you. He gives you a heart of wisdom to number your days,[10] so that you see your desperate need for the gifts He freely gives.  We come to the Lord like an empty vessel, needing to be filled.  He gladly does this!  He is filling you right here in the Divine Service.  In faith, you hear His Word, receive His forgiveness, and taste His Body and Blood.  He fills you in Bible study, so that as you spend time meditating on His Word, He fills you with eternal riches.

In being filled, you sometimes might miss out on sleep, or watching a football game, or your kids might not be the basketball star you wish they could be.  But the wise virgins know that what her Bridegroom gives—and still has laid up in eternity—far outshines anything on this earth.  Unless He comes before, you will grow drowsy and your earthly life will ebb to a close.  You will be with Him until that final trumpet sounds and all the virgins rise.  Those wise, prepared virgins will rejoice and sing in the words of Psalm 45:

6     Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;

      7           you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

                  Therefore God, your God, has anointed you

with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;

And “with joy and gladness they will be led along as they enter the palace of the King.”[11] Amen.

[1] http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2014/08/18/zero-retirement-savings/14070167/

[2] 1 Thessalonians 5:2 (Epistle reading)

[3] An overview of Matthew 24

[4] Isaiah 25:9

[5] Sermon for Invocabit Sunday (1st Sunday in Lent), March 9, 1522

[6] Let us not laugh at Him like those at Jairus’ house or be ignorant like the disciples at Lazarus’ death  (Matthew 9:24; John 11:11-15)

[7] 2 Corinthians 6:2

[8] Psalm 45:13-14

[9] Hebrews 11:6, Romans 14:23

[10] Psalm 90:12

[11] Psalm 45:6-7, 15

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A Wise Virgin is Ready for the Long Run (Matthew 25:1-13)

Bethlehem Lutheran Church & Bethel Lutheran Church, Lebanon & Sweet Home, OR
Twenty Third Sunday after Pentecost + November 12, 2017
Text: Matthew 25:1-13

We can all agree that preparation is an important thing to do.  If you are prepared for something, it will be easier to meet when it comes.  This is true of things we know when to expect, like Christmas, bills, school assignments, or retirement.  But it’s also true of things we don’t have a date on, like natural disasters and when the car will break down.
 
Despite how important it can be, preparing for the future is often shuffled to the bottom of priorities.  Bankrate.com released a study saying that 36% of American workers have absolutely nothing saved for retirement.[1]  Around this time of year, the loan sharks take advantage of Christmas spending.  Countless business are ready to jump at the opportunity to “help you out” in the form of a short-term loan.  We know we should be prepared in the event of a disaster or power outage, but how many actually have stores of water and food?
 
In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, our Lord is talking about preparation.  We may not have a date on it, but we know that God is not lying and Christ will return.  Even tomorrow is not promised to us, but the Lord’s coming in glory is.  His coming will be like a “thief in the night”[2] but for those who are prepared, this will not be a shock.  So that we will not be caught off guard, Jesus tells this parable:
 
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
 
After nation has risen against nation, famines, earthquakes, great tribulation, false prophets, and frightful signs in the heavens,[3] the return of Christ will be a relief for God’s people.  At last our Redeemer has drawn near!  He will take us to be with Himself in heaven forever!  They will shout, “This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”[4]
 
But then comes the shock: not everyone who is waiting for the Lord enters into the Marriage Feast.  Haven’t all ten been prepared?  All have decked themselves for their Bridegroom’s return.   They all have their lamps handy.  They even all fell asleep in waiting for the Bridegroom.  So why are five wise and five foolish?
 
It’s has to do with the oil.  The five wise had oil to last the wait, but the foolish only brought enough for the moment.
 
 
6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’
 
It seems that the wise are coldhearted toward their companions.  How can this be an example of charity and grace?  The virgins have oil and they are not willing to share.  The real trouble is they cannot share because the oil is living faith, and each must have his own.  Christians are called to share material things with those in need, but faith is something that one person cannot give to another.  As Martin Luther began his Invocavit sermons,
The summons of death comes to us all, and no one can die for another. Every one must fight his own battle with death by himself, alone. We can shout into another’s ears, but every one must himself be prepared for the time of death, for I will not be with you then, nor you with me.[5]
The reality is that each of us must be prepared with his or her own faith.  Faith is a gift from God, but it is one that each needs to have, and cherish and value above all else in this life.
 
Jesus tells this parable to His disciples.  He speaks to those in His Church, not to those outside.  The ten virgins stand for the total of all who consider themselves Christians.  Enough has been said by the Lord to those who reject His Word for themselves—Muslims, Hindus, agnostics, and atheists.  But Jesus is our Lord and He has every right to our attention.
 
It is also right for Him to have our attention now, because the time is coming when we will all grow drowsy and sleep.  None of us can escape death (which the Lord calls sleep more than once).  Let us not laugh at Him like those at Jairus’ house or be ignorant like the disciples at Lazarus’ death,[6] when He tells us that the sleep of death will come to us all before His return.  As the Apostle Paul says, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”[7]
 
Consider again how all of the virgins are decked out for the Bridegroom’s return.  No doubt they are all beautifully clad and full of anticipation.  Psalm 45 foretells this, “All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold. In many-colored robes she is led to the king, with her virgin companions following behind her.”[8]  This depicts the Bride of Christ, the Church on earth, waiting for His arrival.
 
But it turns out for all their preparations, the foolish virgin companions have run out of oil.  They would have been fine if the Lord had come back immediately, but He delayed in returning.  This has a lot to say to us as Lutherans, who move heaven and earth to get our children baptized, but then never bring them to church again.  It speaks to parents who could care less about the Divine Service until 7th grade hits, and suddenly their junior high student must be confirmed.  Pastor Mark Surburg calls this the “magic talisman of the Lutheran Church,” that parents and children go to great lengths for a moment in time, but neglect training in godliness for the rest of life’s journey.  Do we really want our children to be found without oil on that Day?
 
The Lord also warns everyone who would trust in their adornments.  Though you rarely miss a Sunday at Church, and though you gave generously in the offering plate, and though you sponsored every one of the pew Bibles, none of this will win you the Bridegroom’s eye.  The Scriptures make this clear, “Without faith, it is impossible to please God” and “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”[9]
 
The wise virgins know this, but the foolish virgins think they can white knuckle it through life.  Once fed at the rich table of Law and Gospel preaching and the comfort of the Sacraments, they leave to subsist on scraps at their friend’s non-denom church.  They move to college, get divorced, or lose their job and decide that Church is what’s really wrong with their life.  They marry an unbeliever and think they’ll save him by sitting next to him on the couch.
 
Empty lamps with the flame burning out is what all of us become unless we are regularly filled by the Lord.  If the Lord brought us to heaven immediately, we might be fine.  But He doesn’t.  He tarries, and the journey of life is long.  “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”  Be prepared for the whole span of your life.
 
When it comes to preparing for things like retirement or an upcoming trip, the emphasis is on our work and our decisions.  If we don’t save or we don’t pack, we’ll be sorry.  But when it comes to being a wise virgin, the Lord prepares you. He gives you a heart of wisdom to number your days,[10] so that you see your desperate need for the gifts He freely gives.  Throughout our days, we come to the Lord like an empty vessel, needing to be filled.  He gladly does so!  He is filling you right here in the Divine Service.  In faith, you hear His Word, receive His forgiveness, and taste His Body and Blood.  He fills you in Bible study, so that as you spend time meditating on His Word, He fills you with eternal riches.
 
In being filled, you might miss out on sleep, or watching a football game, or visiting with out-of-town family.  But the wise virgin knows that what her Bridegroom gives—and still has laid up in eternity—far outshines anything on this earth.  Unless He comes before, you will grow drowsy and your earthly life will ebb to a close.  You will be with Him until that final trumpet sounds and all the virgins rise.  Those wise, prepared virgins will rejoice and sing the rest of Psalm 45:
6     Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
      7           you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
                  Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
And “with joy and gladness they will be led along as they enter the palace of the King.”[11]
Amen.
[1] http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2014/08/18/zero-retirement-savings/14070167/
[2] 1 Thessalonians 5:2 (Epistle reading)
[3] An overview of Matthew 24
[4] Isaiah 25:9
[5] Sermon for Invocabit Sunday (1st Sunday in Lent), March 9, 1522
[6] Matthew 9:24; John 11:11-15
[7] 2 Corinthians 6:2
[8] Psalm 45:13-14
[9] Hebrews 11:6, Romans 14:23
[10] Psalm 90:12
[11] Psalm 45:6-7, 15