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INJ
St Matthew 25:1-13
'The Bridegroom Comes, Awake!'
Matins
The Last Sunday in the Church Year | November 26, 2006
Dear Saints,
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"Wake, awake, for night is flying,"
The watchmen on the heights are crying;
"Awake, Jerusalem, arise!"
Midnight hears the welcome voices
And at the thrilling cry rejoices:
"Oh, where are ye, ye virgins wise?
The Bridegroom comes, awake!
Your lamps with gladness take! Hallelujah!
With bridal care Yourselves prepare
To meet the Bridegroom, who is near."
Let us learn from the wise virgins, the virgins who were ready, the virgins with oil. There were ten virgins, ten who were to be waiting for the Bridegroom's coming, ten set to be alert, to be ready, to be on guard. This is the church, and the Lord has commanded us to “be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.” That's Matthew 24:44, one parable before our text of the ten virgins.
Our text this morning is right in the middle of what is called Jesus' Olivet Discourse, called this because Jesus is speaking on the Mt of Olives. Our Lord is speaking about the coming judgment of Jerusalem (which would occur in 70AD) and His own coming in glory to judge the quick and the dead (which is yet to come to pass), and Jesus is giving us three parables about being ready, the first is the parable of the Faithful and Evil Servants, and is about wisdom and faithfulness. The second parable is of the Ten Virgins, our Gospel text for today, the Last Sunday in the Church Year, and it is about wisdom. The third parable is the parable of the Talents, and it is about faithfulness. We pray that by the example of the wise virgins and by the work of the Holy Spirit we ourselves would be wise, and found ready when the Lord returns.
But what is it to be ready? What does it mean to have oil in your lamp? A lamp with no oil is no lamp at all, it is useless, just a bowl. Like a flashlight without batteries.
Imagine going camping in the mountains, and you, knowing that it's going to be terribly dark, pack a flashlight. But it doesn't have any batteries. Still, you say to yourself, it's got a bulb, a button, who needs batteries. Are you then surprised when it doesn't work? This is silly. It would never happen, but such is the utter ridiculousness and idiotic lunacy of the foolish virgins. It's nuts. It would never happen in reality, but this is a parable, and Jesus is using this illustration to show us the foolishness of men, that we think it is enough to look like a Christian, to act like a Christian, to carry around a flashlight, who cares if it has batteries in it or not.
But this foolishness will be rewarded with the stern words of the Bridegroom, “I do not know you.” [25:13]
The oil in the lamp is faith, the gift of the Holy Spirit through the Holy Scriptures. The five foolish virgins have it not. Perhaps at one time they did. Perhaps they kept their lamp burning for a time, but the oil ran out and was never replenished, or was quenched by the cares of this world, or by the love of riches, or by persecution and trouble.
They stopped studying their Bibles, reading their devotions; they stopped going to Bible class, they put away their catechism and never meditated on the Lord's Word and promises. They neglected the means of grace, the assembly of believers, they wandered out of earshot of the Gospel, from the rich supply of oil that flows freely from the Lord's Altar and from His Word. And their faith died, their lamps ran dry.
Dear Saints, there are strong warnings in this text that should not be ignored. These warnings are for us, that we would not be the foolish virgins, that we would not neglect or take for granted the Lord's gifts, that we would not be lazy or foolish or think that Jesus doesn't matter. For now, today, it the time for buying oil, then it will be to late.
But listen to the joy of the wise virgins, who hear the call of the watchmen and are glad. They are not is despair or panic, but have their lamps burning and ready, they abide in Christ until the end, and have, at last, their life in Him.
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Zion hears the watchmen singing,
And all her heart with joy is springing,
She wakes, she rises from her gloom;
For her Lord comes down all-glorious,
The strong in grace, in truth victorious,
Her Star is ris'n, her Light is come.
"Now come, Thou Blessed One,
Lord Jesus, God's own Son, Hail! Hosanna!
The joyful call We answer all
And follow to the nuptial hall."
This is the joy of the saints, the blessed hope of those who wait with faith and long for His glorious appearance. All of us who are pilgrims and strangers in this world, and who look for the new heaven and the new earth where righteousness shall dwell, who wait with patience through the struggles and the darkness of this veil of tears.
Do you remember as a child waiting for your dad to come home. There was a difference in how you waited depending on how the day had gone. If you had done something wrong and foolish, and were sent by your mom to your room to “wait until your father hears about this,” then your waiting was filled with dread, and perhaps a bit of scrambling for excuses. But there's a different waiting when all had gone well, and you had the promise of your father that “when I get home we'll go get an ice cream.” Then the waiting is filled with expectation and longing and hope.
Dear saints, we wait for the Lord's return not with dread, but with joy, not scrambling for excuses, but confident in His promise of the forgiveness of all of our sins, for the Jesus who is coming soon is the same Jesus who died on the cross for you, for your sins. The hands that will divide the sheep from the goats are the same hands which were spread out on the cross for you.
For the wise virgins the Lord's second Advent has no fear or terror or dread, simply the glad shout, “Hail, Hosanna!” The Lord's return comes with deliverance, with salvation, it brings to sight all that was won for us on Jesus' cross but remained hidden and known only to faith, even our life and salvation and the forgiveness of all of our sins.
Look how the wise virgins, who have fallen asleep, awake to blessedness, to a wedding feast, to joy and rejoicing, to happiness and a putting behind of all weariness and sadness and pain and crying...
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Now let all the heav'ns adore Thee,
Let men and angels sing before Thee,
With harp and cymbal's clearest tone.
Of one pearl each shining portal,
Where, dwelling with the choir immortal,
We gather round Thy radiant throne.
No vision ever brought,
No ear hath ever caught, Such great glory;
Therefore will we Eternally
Sing hymns of praise and joy to Thee. Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church | Aurora, CO
