Sermon: Last Sunday – 2023

26 Nov 2023

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

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

The great Christian writer J.R.R. Tolkien once said, “The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus means that one day everything sad will come untrue.”  Maybe he thought of this when he read our Old Testament passage from Isaiah.  “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.”

Isaiah refers back to the tragic things of our current, fallen world, things like weeping and distress, infants who only live a few days, men cut down in the prime of life, invasions and the loss of property, women going into labor in vain, children who bring about calamity for their parents, and all of the other consequences of this world’s sin and brokenness.

The prophet gives us a glimpse of the new heaven and new earth: “‘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.”

This promise of a new and restored Eden has been around since the collapse of the first Eden, since God promised a Savior who would come and crush the serpent’s head.  Of course, Jesus came and did just that, suffering the bite of the serpent in the process of mortally wounding the serpent with the wood of the cross. 

So indeed, the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus has happened, dear friends.  And now we await the “one day” that comes as a result, the “one day” of the new heavens and the new earth.  The kingdom is both here “now,” and it is also “not yet.”  Now is the time to be alert and to labor in the vineyard, for the time is coming when time itself will stop.  One day, we continue to struggle with this old and fallen world, and then one day, we will enjoy the new and eternal.

So how does the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus matter to us as we live out our lives day to day?  Do we look around us at the sadness and suffering of this world and see it as permanent?  Do we believe in this new heaven and earth that are coming?  Do we pray for those who do not place their hope in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus?  Do we ourselves forget about the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus and get caught up in this fallen world where wolves still eat lambs, where lions prowl around looking for someone to devour, and where the serpent seems to rule the world?  Do we participate in the world’s evil?  Or do we see a more excellent way?  Do we see that this world is passing away?  Do we cling to our baptism knowing that we have been signed, sealed, and delivered with the cross?

St. Paul warns us against becoming too cozy in this doomed world, looking around at the wreckage and saying, “There is peace and security” even as “sudden destruction” comes upon us.  St. Paul reminds us of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and teaches us to be “fully aware” of what is coming on that “one day.”  For we are “not in darkness,” dear brothers and sisters.  We have the Word of God teaching us and reminding us of what is to come because of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 

For this is not the end of our Lord’s mission.  He was born in order to die.  He died in order to be victorious over death.  And He was raised from the dead because He is returning.  St. Paul reminds us that He comes “like a thief in the night.”  Jesus Himself describes His return in that kind of language.  Thieves are part of this fallen world, just like lions and wolves and serpents.  Like other predators, they invade when we are not paying attention.  For if we knew when they were coming, we would be ready.  And so in this fallen world, we must always be ready.

Jesus compares His return to the coming of a thief.  To the unprepared, to those whose lives are unaffected by the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, they will be surprised.  Let us not be surprised, dear friends.  For we are not in darkness.  We have been warned.  We have God’s Word.  I just read it to you.  Go home and read it again.  Jesus is coming, and we don’t know exactly when.  So when He does return, let Him find us ready and watchful, aware, and working in the kingdom.  Let Him find us praying for more to join us in this new heaven and new earth.  Let Him find us surrounded by His Word, receiving His sacraments, and living lives that remind everyone of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, as well as that “one day” that is coming.

Our Lord told a story to remind us to be ready.  It is the Parable of the Ten Virgins.  It is really the story of two kinds of people: the ready and the unready.  We can think of all kinds of similar illustrations.  Those who are ready hear about the hurricane that is coming, and they have their generators ready to go, gasoline purchased, and their homes made secure.  The unready are running around at the last minute: the generator won’t start, the lines are long at the gas station, and they procrastinate to where there is no more time.  But the hurricane will not wait.  It’s coming.  And those who did not prepare may find themselves at the mercy of those who are prepared. 

Dear friends, the time to prepare is now.  If you are concerned about thieves breaking in to your home, the time to prepare is during the day.  When an armed invader breaks into your home at three in the morning, it’s too late to go buy a gun and ammunition and learn how to use them.  It’s too late to repair the broken gate, or put a stronger lock on the windows.  Now is the time to prepare.

This new heaven and new earth are coming.  Those who are prepared will be ready to enter the banquet with the Bridegroom.  So be ready.  The good news, dear friends, is that to be ready in this spiritual sense doesn’t require that you join a monastery or give away all of your money to a church.  It doesn’t mean you have to earn a state of readiness.  For it is a gift.

To have your lamps full of oil and trimmed for the journey means that you have faith in Jesus, whose birth, death, and resurrection mean something.  It means you believe that He has come and He is coming again – and that His birth, death, and resurrection are for you.  His blood atones for your sins.  His resurrection means that He has overcome sin, death, and the devil – and all the things of this world that the Prophet Isaiah points to that will no longer “be remembered or come into mind.” 

A big part of our readiness for His return is to go to where the oil for our lamps is to be found.  And we don’t have to go to merchants to buy it at the last minute.  In fact, the oil for our lamps has already been bought and paid for.  It is there for the taking.  It is as simple as opening up our ears to hear, and our mouths to receive.  It is as simple as rejoicing in what is to come.  “For God,” says St. Paul, “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.”  So then, says the apostle, “let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” 

The ten virgins were invited to the banquet.  The wise were ready, awake, and watchful, and they attended the celebration when the Bridegroom came.  Dear friends, the banquet is still yet to come, but we are getting a preview of it here.  The Bridegroom is here with us in His Word and in His body and blood.  We have already begun to eat and drink with the Bridegroom, and to celebrate His coming.  It is fitting that the one who presides over the Divine Service is called the celebrant.  For Jesus invites us to celebrate – even here among the lions and wolves and serpents.  For we know what is coming.  More importantly, we know who is coming.  He comes like a thief in the night, but so long as we are ready, it doesn’t matter when.  For we hear and believe the promise: “I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; no more shall be heard the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.”

Indeed, dear friends, what matters more than anything is the birth, death, resurrection – and return – of Jesus.  For on that “one day,” the day of the new heavens and the new earth, everything sad will come untrue.

Amen.

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