Sermon: Last Sunday – 2022

20 Nov 2022

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

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

As we are now at the Last Sunday of the church year, as the days are shorter and the nights are darker, our attention turns toward the last things: in the words of the ancient prayer: “the end of the day, the end of our life, the end of the world.”  Since our risen Lord ascended into heaven, we have been awaiting His return in glory, “to judge both the living and the dead” and when “His kingdom will have no end.”

But as we measure time, it has been a long time in waiting.  As St. Paul says: “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.’”  The Lord’s return will be sudden, and once He returns, there will be no time to prepare.

This is why our Lord tells us the Parable of the Ten Virgins.  You know the story.  Ten girls are going to a wedding feast.  The five wise virgins are prepared.  They have oil for the journey.  The five foolish virgins procrastinate, and have no oil.  And when the bridegroom is near, the foolish virgins have to scamper off to buy oil from the dealers.  So when the bridegroom comes, he brings only the five wise young women with him.  The foolish miss their opportunity, the door is shut, and the bridegroom does not answer their knocking, saying, “I do not know you.” 

Jesus Himself tells us the moral of His story: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”  In other words, be the wise virgins, not the foolish.  Be prepared.  Be ready for the Bridegroom to come. 

Notice that we are not told that the foolish virgins are evil.  No, they are foolish.  They have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and they occupy their minds with less important things.  They are foolish because their priorities are misplaced.  This is a time of preparation and waiting – but the foolish occupy themselves with things of less importance. 

And if you asked these ten virgins, “Are you wise or foolish,” I find it hard to believe that any of them would say that they are foolish.  We all identify with the wise virgins in the story.  No foolish person thinks that he is foolish.  Indeed, it is wise to come to grips with our foolishness, and to change it.  That is called “repentance.”  The Word of God convicts us of our sins, and as the Psalmist says: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Our problem, dear friends – our foolishness – is our own misguided priorities.  Instead of preparing for the return of the Bridegroom, we get wrapped up in the passing things of this world, storing up treasures where moth and rust destroy.  What kinds of things occupy our time instead of prayer?  Are we filling our flasks with the pure oil of God’s Word, or with the rancid sewage of the world’s debased entertainments?  And even if we aren’t attending to evil, are we elevating worldly things above the holy things?

On a scale from one to ten, how important is it in your life to attend Divine Service, to pray and read the Scriptures every day, to seek out the pastor for private confession and absolution?  Do you pray before you eat?  Do you thank God for His goodness to you?

If you are one of the foolish, the good news is that the Bridegroom has not yet returned.  The time is growing shorter every day, but Jesus has once again told you this parable for you to wise up, get your priorities in order, and fill your flasks with oil.  Don’t wait.  Don’t be foolish.

If you had to have kidney dialysis every day, or you would die, you would make the time to do it, every day.  You would find the resources to pay for it, you would make any sacrifice to carry it out.  If your child needed dialysis, it would be more important than sports or extracurricular activities.  In fact, it would be more important than even school.  Because his or her life would depend on it.

Well, dear friends, our eternal lives depend upon these means by which God gives us His grace: the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments.  This is your spiritual dialysis.  This is the most valuable use of time that you parents can give to your children.

So don’t wait.  Be wise.

For listen, dear friends, listen to the promise!  “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.  But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness….  no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.”

This is what the Lord has prepared for us as we enter the door and come into the eternal wedding feast with the Bridegroom.  We cannot even imagine how glorious this eternal life will be in this New Jerusalem.  “‘The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,’ says the Lord.”

“Says the Lord,” dear friends.  This is not my personal opinion.  This is the Word of the Lord.  And listen to this Good News, brothers and sisters, and rejoice in it: “But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.”

And listen to what this means:

“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

“Encourage one another,” dear friends, “and build one another up.”  That is what you are doing by being here.  You may not feel like you “get anything out of the service.”  And that’s okay.  Facts don’t care about your feelings.  The facts are that Jesus died for you, you are baptized, you are here hearing the Word of God, and you are called to take part in the Holy Sacrament.  God has brought you here today to pour oil in your flask and make you ready for the Bridegroom’s return.  Indeed, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  You are getting oil for your flask out of this service.  You are getting wisdom.  So “encourage one another.”  Urge one another to put things in perspective and be prepared.  For just by being here and taking part in the service, you are encouraging others.  For the Divine Service is not just about what you get from the service (which is forgiveness, life, and salvation), but it is also what you give your neighbor: encouragement when your voice blends with his.  We are helping one another in this time of waiting.  We are encouraging each other to be wise. 

We are sinners, but we are redeemed sinners, dear friends.  The Bridegroom came for us, and He is coming again – for us.  And again, “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.”

It is easy to get our priorities confused, but it is also easy to fix it, dear friends.  Just come.  And keep coming.  “Watch, therefore,” says Jesus.  So let us watch: wise, awake and joyful.

Amen.

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