Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year (Trinity 27)
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 + Matthew 25:1-13
I wonder, when you woke up this morning and started getting ready for church, how long was it before you said your first prayer? How long before you thought to yourself, “The Lord may well return today. I’d better make sure I’m ready for His arrival!”? Did it take until you until you got to church? Until you sang the opening hymn? Or did even the words of today’s hymns and Scripture readings not break through all the other thoughts going through your head? How often throughout the week do you give a thought to Jesus’ warning to watch for His return?
You see, different people need different warnings from God, at different times. Atheists and idolaters and all who are outside the Christian Church need to hear one kind of warning, that their sins have separated them from God, that their notion of themselves as “good people” is laughable in God’s sight, that they are bringing God’s wrath down upon themselves with their idolatry and unbelief, and that a Day of Judgment is coming which they will not escape. If they take those warnings seriously, then they need to hear another kind of warning, a hope-filled one, to take refuge in the Lord Jesus, who died for them and who wants them to be saved. Meanwhile, those who are inside the Christian Church need to hear other kinds of warnings, and Scripture provides plenty of examples of them. Watch out for false teachers and false teachings! Watch out for lovelessness! Watch out for pride! Watch out for temptations! Watch out for carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life (as we’ll hear during the Advent season)! Today’s Gospel is a warning for those who are inside the Christian Church. It’s not a fire and brimstone kind of warning about gross and obvious sins. It’s a warning about a danger that’s much more pervasive and much harder to detect. It’s a warning to watch out for failing to watch, issued through the parable of the wise and foolish virgins.
Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. The ten virgins in Jesus’ parable represent the kingdom of heaven, that is, the Christian Church here on earth, in its outward form, those who have been baptized into Christ and who confess Christ Jesus as Lord. They take their lamps, with oil in them, and go out to wait for the Bridegroom, so that they can meet Him when He arrives on the last day, and, with their lamps glowing in the darkness, join in His joyful procession into the wedding hall, into heaven. All ten go out the same way. Pay attention to that. It’s important. All ten are eager to go out, eager to wait, eager to receive the Bridegroom when He comes. All ten go out with lamps that are lit and burning and ready to light the way. In other words, all ten begin as genuine Christians. All ten have faith.
But five of the ten are foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps but took no oil along with them. They’re not wicked, these girls, not prostitutes, not murderers, not drug addicts. And also not unintelligent. Simply unthinking. They know that the Bridegroom will come that night, that He could arrive shortly after sunset or as late as midnight. They know that they might need more oil than their lamps can hold. But they don’t act on that knowledge. They don’t give it any thought. So they’re prepared for a short wait, but not for a long one.
But the other five are wise. The wise, on the other hand, took oil in their vessels, together with their lamps. These girls are not morally “better” than the other five. They’re simply wiser, because they’re thinking ahead. “Sure, the Bridegroom may come within a couple of hours. But He may come as late as midnight! We’d better make sure we bring everything we need both for a short wait and for a long one. Not only our lamps filled with oil, but vessels with extra oil, just in case. Because we know that the oil that can fit in our lamps isn’t going to be enough if we have to wait until midnight.” They’re thinking ahead. They’re waiting intentionally. They’re waiting with purpose.
The foolish virgins represent the foolish Christians who are excited by the Gospel at first and eager to spend eternity with the Lord Jesus. But they ignore His warnings to keep watching. They may still attend church, but they’re more interested in entertainment-style worship than in hearing the preaching of God’s Word and receiving His Sacraments. They think less and less about living in daily contrition and repentance, or about growing in their knowledge and understanding of God’s Word. Their focus turns from heavenly happiness to earthly happiness. They don’t necessarily become wicked people. They just drift away from the faith. Because faith, like fire, needs to be fed continually, or else it dies.
The wise virgins represent the wise Christians who listen to Jesus’ warning and prepare for a long wait. They know their faith needs to be fed, so they seek out the ministry of the Word and Sacraments and make use of it regularly. They know the Christian life isn’t flashy or exciting or entertaining, that it’s full of ups and downs, joys and sorrow, and that Christ has called them to simple works of love and obedience in their day-to-day lives, and so they repeat the same simple mundane works over and over again, but keeping one eye on the heavens, waiting for their dear Savior to come. These are wise Christians who hear their Savior warning them to watch out for not watching, and they take His warning to heart.
Sure enough, the Bridegroom took a while. He didn’t come early in the evening. And all the virgins fell asleep, for which they are not criticized. Now, in today’s Epistle, St. Paul referred to a kind of spiritual sleep that is unhealthy and bad. Christians should be awake, should be sober, not asleep and oblivious to our duties. But that’s not what this sleep is. This sleep in Jesus’ parable represents the sleep of death. Some Christians die still holding onto the faith, because they were wise. They watched, as Jesus urged them to do. They made use of the Means of Grace, and pursued a Christian life. Others, tragically, die without faith, because they stopped making use of the Means of Grace and ended up pursuing an earthly life instead.
And at midnight the cry rang out, ‘Look! The bridegroom is coming! Go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, ‘No, there may not be enough for us and for you. But go instead to those who sell, and buy some for yourselves.’ It wasn’t until the Bridegroom arrived that the five foolish virgins realized that they had made a terrible mistake. Only then did it hit them, “He’s here! But we’re not ready!” And by then, there was no solution, nothing to be done. If they had thought about it before they fell asleep, they would’ve still had time to go get more oil. But now it was too late. They tried to go buy some more oil, but while they were gone, they missed the Bridegroom’s arrival.
The wise, on the other hand, are ready with their lamps. They fall right into the Bridegroom’s joyful procession, and they go into the wedding hall with Him and with His bride, a beautiful picture of the joyful wedding banquet in heaven and the eternal joy that believers will have with Christ, our heavenly Bridegroom.
Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding celebration. And the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Watch, therefore! For you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man will come.
Watch, therefore! See how Jesus pleads with His disciples, pleads with you and me, to take this parable to heart, to take His warning to watch to heart, to avoid missing out on eternal life, because He died for you. What’s more, He saw to it that you were baptized in His name, that you’ve had countless opportunities to use the ministry of His Word and Sacraments. And He’ll continue to provide every opportunity you need to remain faithful until the end. He’s given you His Holy Spirit, who is always with you, urging you back to the Word, urging you to set your mind on the things of God, to keep an eye on the sky, as it were, waiting intentionally for the Lord Jesus to come, waiting with purpose, carrying out His instructions while you wait. He wants you to be with Him. He wants you to be ready.
Because the last thing Jesus wants to say to you on the Last Day is, “I told you so! I offered you all the help you needed. I warned you, over and over again, and still you didn’t watch. Still you didn’t pray. Still you didn’t make the ministry of the Word a priority in your life. Still you drifted away from Me.” That will, tragically, happen to many. But it doesn’t have to happen to any of you. You don’t have to hear those tragic words from Jesus. It’s not too late. Not yet. This parable, this Gospel, this last Sunday of the Church Year is God’s gift to you, to keep you watching, to keep you close to Him and His Word, and to encourage one another, in this Christian family, to keep watching, too.
Because, what are warnings for? They’re to spare you from danger. They’re to keep you from harm. They’re to make sure you stay on the right path and guard you against taking the one that would lead to your death. Warnings are there to bring you safely home. So be wise, dear Christians. Heed the Bridegroom’s warning as we close out another Church Year and prepare to start at the beginning again next Sunday. Make it your goal throughout the coming year to keep oil in your lamp, right up to your dying day, to cling in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to watch continually for His coming! Amen.
