Sermon: Last Sunday of the Church Year - 2018

25 November 2018

Text: Matthew 25:1-13 (Isa 65:17-25, 1 Thess 5:1-11)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Our Lord’s parable about the Ten Virgins is a lesson that used to be taught in all schools, but no more.  Teaching students to be wise and to avoid folly is as old as teaching itself.  The Old Testament is filled with discourses on wisdom – especially in the Book of Proverbs.  The ancient Greeks put wisdom on a pedestal and saw wisdom as an important part of living the good life.

Wisdom vs. Folly was a staple in education until very recently.  Now we don’t want to say that some people are wise, or that certain lifestyle choices are better than others.  And even more so, teachers are not going to speak of people being “foolish.”  The Greek word used here is actually where we get the word “moron.” Woe be to a school teacher that would use such a word in a classroom today!

Instead of contrasting the wise with the foolish, our schools now just say that nobody is foolish, and wisdom is nothing more than a cultural construct.  We now teach lots of facts and things to memorize.  We teach our students to obey rules.  But we don’t dare teach our students to be wise.  And one look at our culture shows how well this is working out.

Dear friends, we need to understand and teach the difference between wisdom and folly.  The wise young women in our Lord’s story were prepared.  The foolish young women had their priorities mixed up, they were lazy, and they procrastinated.  And that contrast makes all the difference.  The wise knew that they were going on a journey and needed oil for their lamps.  So they brought what they needed.  The foolish did not.  And when the foolish demanded that the wise give up their oil, the wise did not give them any.  For that itself would have been foolish.  The wise were not penalized and forced to give the lazy and the foolish some of their oil.

Instead, the foolish virgins were forced to waste valuable time rectifying their folly.  They had to “go to the dealers” when they should have been waiting vigilantly for the bridegroom.  The wise were ready to go; the foolish were not.  The wise made it to the wedding feast; the foolish were locked out.  

And Jesus makes it clear that this parable has to do with His return.  We don’t know when He is returning.  And so we do well to be prepared.  We are to wait vigilantly.  We don’t know when we may breathe our last.  And so we do well to be prepared our whole lives long.  The wise hear the Word of God and keep it.  They keep it in their hearts and minds.  They treasure it.  The wise come to where it is proclaimed and taught.  The wise partake of the Lord’s Supper.  The wise avail themselves of Holy Absolution.  The wise remember their baptism and do not make important decisions in their lives without prayer and reflection upon how such a decision will impact their life in Christ.  “The fear of the Lord is,” as Scripture teaches us, “the beginning of wisdom.”

The foolish do not fear the Lord.  They do not prepare.  The foolish have other priorities.  The foolish have better things to do than pray, than read and study the Word of God.  The foolish don’t see the importance in gathering with other believers to hear the Word proclaimed, to partake of the Lord’s Supper, to be absolved of their sins, to remember their baptisms, and to avoid things that negatively impact their life in Christ.

Jesus is teaching us this important distinction.  For it really does matter.  People who do foolish things eventually pay a dear price.  We see people taking foolish risks on motorcycles.  We see people making foolish purchases and getting into debt.  We see people making foolish choices concerning their family life.  We see people foolishly procrastinating the things that they must do.  And eventually, something bad happens.

But conversely, we see wise people driving safely, being prudent with their resources, doing right by their families, and taking care of their responsibilities.  And by and large, their lives are better.

And in the case of eternal life, the stakes are much higher. 

Jesus is pleading with us to hear His Word, to meditate on His commandments and strive to keep them.  And when we don’t, to confess and be absolved.  Jesus is pleading with us to pray – not just in church and not just when we are desperate.  But we are to lead a life of prayer, in which praying is as natural to us as breathing.  Jesus is pleading with us to keep our commitments: to our parents, to our children, to our spouses, and to our church.  We need to make it an ironclad reality in our lives that we hear the Gospel proclaimed and we partake of the Lord’s Supper as often as possible.  We should not miss the weekly Divine Service unless we are sick or out of town.  It should be as unthinkable to go a week without the Lord’s Supper as it would be to go a week without eating.  For “man does not live by bread alone,” as the Scripture says, “but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

Being a “good person” is not being prepared.  Besides, you’re really not a good person.  And neither am I.  Scripture teaches us this, and we know it even without Scripture.  Being nice is not being prepared.  Being a good worker or student or athlete is not being prepared.  Being happy is not being prepared (how many parents make their children’s “happiness” their highest goal?  Is that wise, or foolish, dear friends?).

Being prepared for the Lord’s return, being prepared for death, being prepared for eternal life, this preparation is rooted in Baptism and expressed in our faith – our faith that is fed and nurtured and confirmed and prepared by contact with the Word of God.

The Lord is pleading with us to be wise, to lead a life of wisdom, to put away all foolishness.  For where does folly lead?  It leads to nothing good.  It leads to a separation from God.  It leads to a selfishness that waxes cold and grows to hate God.  It leads to hell.

Jesus is warning us now, dear friends, for we do not want to hear these words from our Lord: “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.”  That is pure foolishness, for Jesus gives us everything we need to join the eternal banquet.  Everything we need is handed over to us with no strings, all for the taking.  For it was given to us as a gift on the cross.  It is all by grace.

And that is where what the world considers the foolishness of the cross is, in fact, our true wisdom.  For by holding fast to the cross, to Christ, to the Gospel, to the Word, to the Sacraments, and to an active struggle against sin – that is what it means to be wise unto salvation.  Jesus is telling us, or more accurately, pleading with us in love, to be wise.  Be wise, dear brothers and sisters!

And so Jesus says, “Watch.”  In Greek, it literally means, “Be vigilant, be awake and aware.  Don’t nod off.”  As you might have heard a wise old coach or a wise old sergeant say, “Keep your head on a swivel.”  Jesus says, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.  It could be today.  It could be this hour.  Watch and be wise, dear friends, for the Lord, our Bridegroom, is merciful, and He is coming to save us!

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.