The sermon for November 20 was based on Matthew 25:1-13.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

With the end of the Church year, the lessons of the Church have traditionally drawn attention to the end of this age and the final judgment of the Lord Jesus Christ. What difference should the coming of Christ, the Bridegroom, make in your life? Or is there no difference to be made? This is the matter taken up by the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins.

In this parable there are some guests who are waiting at the home of the newly married couple for the arrival of the bridegroom. Those waiting are described as "10 virgins." The number 10 suggests that this is the whole group. Of that number half of them were "wise" and the other half were "foolish." Some of them carried oil for their lamps and some of them failed to make such necessary preparation.

To understand the meaning of this parable, focus on those lamps and the oil needed for them. Think of the flame of the lamp as faith in Christ and think of the oil for the lamps as that which makes it possible for the flame to burn. Only those who have faith in Jesus Christ may enter into the joys of heaven when Jesus comes to judge the world at the end of time. So it is necessary to have whatever it takes to strengthen and preserve that faith and keep it alive.

What is this oil so necessary to your faith? The oil is the Holy Ghost, who comes to you in the Word of God and the holy Sacraments of Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord's Supper.

Now the hearing and learning of God's Word and the reception of the Sacraments is not something you can get at the last trumpet blast, as Christ returns for the final judgment of all men. Jesus is here urging you to be wise. To be wise is to be prepared for His final return on Judgment Day. Since no one knows what day that will be, you should be prepared now and not wait.

Be prepared now, because when the cry is heard, "The Bridegroom comes!" it will be too late. It will be too late to make up for previous foolishness, previous neglect of preparation. The Lord portrays the final judgment as the final day, even the final hour. When you think about the billions of people who must be judged, not only those living now but all those who have ever lived or will ever live, you can see the immensity of this final judgment. Add to this the fact that this judgment will examine every detail of your life according to faith or lack of faith, and you come to understand that a miracle takes place in order to complete the final judgment in the twinkling of an eye. The point is that there will be no time for last minute changes in your relationship to God when the Bridegroom comes and the judgment occurs.

Be prepared now, therefore, and be wise with the wisdom of the wise virgins in this parable of Jesus. Once the Bridegroom comes, everything you have ever done will be totally unimportant compared to being prepared for His coming. You are kept prepared with your lamp full of oil and your flame burning brightly through the hearing of God's Word and receiving of the Sacraments. Therefore, when the congregation gathers for worship and you choose to be someplace else, you are being foolish. When the wise are gathered here to study God's Word in Bible class, and you choose to do something else, you are being like the foolish virgins of the text. When the faithful gather at the Lord's Table and receive forgiveness in Christ's Body and Blood, and you choose to neglect this great gift, that is the sort of foolishness about which Jesus is talking here. God's Word and Sacraments are the means of grace. These are the "channels" (so to speak) through which the flame of your faith is fed. Close off those channels by refusing to hear God's Word as it is preached and taught and by neglecting the Body and Blood of Christ, and the flame of faith will go out as the Holy Ghost departs from the cold and hardened heart. If the Bridegroom comes when the flame is out and the oil is gone, there will be no chance to get oil and start the flame again.

Be prepared now, because no one else's preparation can help when the Bridegroom comes. No matter how much your brothers and sisters in the faith love you and may want to help you, they will not be able to do so. No matter who else in you family was a faithful member of Bethany, they cannot help you in that day. The wise virgins of the parable were not able to spare any oil for those who had neglected proper preparation for the Bridegroom's arrival.

Be prepared now, because failure to be prepared in time will shut you out from the joys of heaven, the wedding feast of the Bridegroom and His Bride. The only alternative to the joys of heaven is to be in the everlasting darkness of hell. So be prepared now and enter into the joy of your Lord!

You are prepared when your faith in Christ is burning brightly, fueled by the Holy Ghost who comes to you in the Word and the Sacraments. Without the Holy Ghost you have no faith, just as there is no flame without oil in those lamps. But with the Holy Ghost you have God Himself fueling your faith in Christ. He supplies you with Himself as He comes to you in His Word and as He feeds you with His Body and Blood in Holy Communion. He ignites the flame of faith in holy Baptism, and keeps that flame alive through holy Absolution. Through these means: through the Gospel, through Baptism, through Absolution, through the Supper, all your sins are forgiven by Christ Himself. Where you have sinned and neglected to be prepared in the past, God Himself trims your lamp and prepares you to meet the Bridegroom when He comes.

And behold! He is coming quickly. Are you prepared? Or let me ask the question another way: has God's Word filled your ears lately and settled in your heart? Has God washed you clean in holy Baptism, and is that Baptism a daily reality in your life? Have your sins been forgiven through holy Absolution? Will you receive the Body and Blood of God for the forgiveness of sins? If you are a Christian, then the answer to all these questions is "Yes!" Yes, you hear and receive God's Word. Yes, you are baptized and you live in that baptismal reality. Yes, your sins have been forgiven, absolved. Yes, you receive the food of immortality in the Supper of the Lord. The Holy Ghost fills your lamp; He fuels the bright flame of your faith. So, yes, you are indeed prepared. Behold! He is "coming quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." [Rev 22:20-1]

The Peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Last Updated: 5/27/2009