Be Wise - Be Ready

Title: Be Wise - Be Ready  By Pastor Lohn Johnson
Text:  Matthew 25: 1 "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise….  13 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. INTRODUCTION:   My dear friends in Christ, Now to understand this parable, you have to understand Jewish weddings of Jesus’ day.
I.   A Jewish wedding consisted of 3 parts.
	A. The first was the engagement. Marriages most often were arranged by the fathers' of the bride and the groom. The engagement amounted to a contract of marriage in which the couple had little if any direct involvement.
	B. The second stage was the betrothal. This was an actual marriage ceremony where the bride and the groom exchanged vows before family and friends and the marriage was considered to be official even though the marriage was yet to be physically consummated. Now the betrothal could last for many months, but as far as society and the law was concerned, the couple was legally married.
	C. The third step was the wedding feast. At a certain time the bridegroom accompanied by his attendants would proceed through the streets usually at night to the bride's home to claim his bride.
			1. Since it was usually at night the bride and her attendants had to make sure they had lamps, to light the way back to the bridegroom's house.  This is where the 10 virgins come in.
			2. Then the bride and groom and their attendants would then parade through the streets proclaiming that the wedding feast was about to begin. They would go back to the groom's house for the wedding feast.
II.  Since this is a parable, we must look for Jesus’ meaning here.  Obviously the 10 virgins or bridesmaids are at the center stage.
		A. But as we strive for meaning here we must acknowledge that it doesn’t fit to see the virgins as representing all people. Those outside the church do not wait for the Bridegroom.  They do not gather in His House to meet Him, nor do they look for His coming in the clouds on the Last Day.  So we must conclude that our text does not discuss these people at all.
		B. But It does talk about those who do gather together to meet the Bridegroom.
			1. So the virgins represent the baptized.
						a. The ten virgins are those people whose names are on the church roster; who have some connection with the church.  The ten virgins are those people on earth who call themselves Christians.  b. Why don’t we bring this story home.  We are the ten virgins.  We’re not outside the church—we belong to the visible church on earth.  Our names are written on the church rolls.  We come to God’s House to meet the Bridegroom.  We expect Him to come again in the clouds of judgment.  Our lamps of faith are shining.   We are the ten virgins.
			2. And all ten had good intentions.  They intended to wait for the coming of the Bridegroom.  Even the five foolish virgins had lamps with oil in them at one time.  They had faith.  That’s what the lamp represents.  It’s the lamp of faith.  “Let your light shine before men,” says Jesus.
						a. These five were doing works of faith.  They were coming to worship.  They were singing songs of praise to the Bridegroom.  b. At one point in time, there was no way you could tell a difference between the five wise virgins and the five foolish virgins.  By how they looked, by what they said…there was no difference.
III.  Of those who are the baptized; of those who call themselves Christian, as we consider our parable…there are wise virgins and there are foolish virgins. But we’ve got to ask, why does Jesus call these five, foolish, and the other five, wise?  Well, there is one difference between them.  Just one difference.  Not a great big difference, just one small difference.  But sometimes the small differences are pretty important.  When you’re locked out of your house, that little key is pretty important.  With these ten virgins, the difference was in the little flask of oil.  Lamps need oil to burn.  Lamps are very much like faith.  Both will die out unless more fuel is added.  Lamps need oil…faith needs God’s Word and Sacraments.
		A. The five foolish virgins were just like the five wise virgins except for that one thing—they did not bother to take along any extra oil for their lamps.  So when the Bridegroom came, they were not ready.  Their lamps had gone out.  And they were locked out of the wedding banquet.  That little difference of not having any extra oil cost them everything.
			1. You know what strikes me about those foolish virgins in our text?  They weren’t your typical cheats or swindlers or adulterers or hardened criminals—they were church people; virgins waiting for the Bridegroom.  But they were locked out of heaven’s door for one simple reason—when the Bridegroom came their faith had gone out, because they neglected to refuel their lamps.
					a. The foolish ones had succumbed to the temptation to forsake time spent listening to Jesus.  They’ve turned to other distractions.  Our sinful aversion to spending what we deem to be too much time in the Lord’s house comes out in them.  An indifference to the Word of God grows and leads to low church attendance and small turn outs for Bible studies for them.  b. In the end they never come to God’s House to store up oil for their lamp. It doesn’t matter if we have faith if we’re not fueling our faith with God’s Word and Sacraments.  A lamp is worthless without oil, and our faith is worthless unless the oil of the Word fills the lamp.  c. A few years ago, a pastor was talking with a middle-aged man to whom life had dealt a severe blow in the death of his wife. He was fumbling around trying to find the resources to meet the demands of the hour. "Pastor," he said, "when I went off to college I put my Christian faith in the drawer because I didn't think I'd be needing it. That was 27 years ago and now I need it and can't remember where I put it." Well, even if he had found it, it probably wouldn't have fit. A faith that hasn't grown since childhood isn't likely to fit a 47-year-old man!
			2. And this text warns us that there are certain things which cannot be borrowed.  The foolish virgins found it impossible to borrow oil.
				a. Some people may think they can get into heaven riding the coattails of another's faith. Some think they are right with God because they were born into a Christian family. b. Maybe we can look at it like this: [Video Clip Friday Night Lights]  You have got to have a helmet to play football.  Without it the player misses his chance to play.  Similarly without their own faith fed with adequate oil the foolish miss out too.
		B. Some of our lamps are burning brighter right now than others are.  We’re working harder for the church.  We’re letting our faith shine by our singing, our involvement, our witnessing, our tithing—and that’s commendable.
			1. But let’s not pat ourselves on the back over much. Because all that is God’s oil – his word and sacraments.  Otherwise it’s worthless.
				a. We’re not wise by our own efforts.  It is God who makes us “wise unto salvation” in Christ Jesus.  It is like this story:  A young fellow came forward in a Gospel meeting, earnestly asking, “What can I do to be saved?”  Knowing the man thought he had to accomplish something by his own efforts to gain redemption, the Christian worker responded to the anxious inquirer, “You’re too late!”  “Oh, don’t say that,” exclaimed the distressed seeker,  “I really want salvation; I’d do anything or go anywhere to obtain it.”  “I’m sorry,” replied the other, “you’re too late for that.  Your salvation was completed many hundreds of years ago at Calvary.  It’s finished work!  The blessed gift He offers is yours through faith.  Realizing his great debt was paid, the young man found peace had been given by the Savior and now he was resting upon the grace of God.” b. Our love for the Word of God; our desire for His body and blood; our hunger for His forgiveness is not of our own making—it is the Lord’s doing.  It is God who baptized us; who brought us from death to life; who forgave all our sins and called us His child.  He gave us our lamps of faith through those baptismal waters.  It’s God who teaches us about His love for us in Jesus through the mouths of our Christian parents, teachers, and pastors.  It is God who leads us to His Holy Supper where He gives His meal of grace to us—the body and blood of our Savior. c. So through His oil we are brought to be watchful and vigilant for Christ’s return.  Being watchful and vigilant means having our noses in God’s book, our back sides in a pew, our infants at the font, and our mouths filled with the body and blood of Christ.  d. The wise virgins came prepared.  You are wise for being here.  You live wisely by taking the time regularly to come to the House of the Lord and store up the oil of God’s Word for your lamp.
			2. Now at this point in the sermon you’re probably expecting me to say something like this:  “Some of you are like the five wise virgins and others of you are like the five foolish virgins.”  And after that you’d expect me to encourage you all to be more like the five wise virgins so that you don’t get locked out of heaven when the Bridegroom comes…and then say, “Amen,” and sit down.
				a. And I suppose that I could—but it’s not quite that simple.  Because as I look around this room all I see are wise virgins.  I don’t see any foolish virgins.  All I see are wise virgins.  Perhaps some of us have been foolish virgins in the past.  b. But not today. Today you’re wise virgins.  Because you are here to refuel your lamps.  God’s Word and His Sacraments are the fuel your lamp needs, and you are wise for being here today.  This is not to say that you will all be wise virgins next week, or next month, or next year.  But today you are wise virgins.  Foolish virgins do not continue to stock up on fuel for their lamps.  Wise virgins do.
CONCLUSION:    If you have lived more like a foolish virgin than a wise one, God forgives you.  Jesus died for your spiritual laziness.  And as He forgives you, He works upon your heart to make you wise in Christ Jesus.  And He will never stop doing this.  God will never give up on you.  No matter how spiritually lazy you are, as often as you come here He keeps forgiving you and working within you so that you can look forward with joy to the coming of the Bridegroom.  For you know, dear forgiven child of God, that He comes for you.