St. Matthew 25:1–13
In the name of the
Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Every season of the
Church Year highlights a particular article of faith. The Last Sundays of the
Church Year, as well as the Sundays in Advent, focus our minds and hearts on
that article of faith to which we may not always pay much attention: Christ’s
return. The Last Day. The Final Judgment. It’s right there in the Creeds: He will come again with glory to judge both
the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end… I look for the
resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. But does the
Day of Judgment fill us with fear or with hope? Is the announcement of Christ’s
imminent return a dreadful warning or a message of comfort? There should
probably be some of both. The parable of the ten virgins certainly has both
warning and comfort for the hearers. And we would do well to heed both.
The
warning deals with the foolish virgins and their fate. But it is not
exclusively for those who are foolish. It is a warning for all of us, that we
would not be like them. In the Bible, foolish does not necessarily mean
unintelligent. Nor does wise necessarily mean super smart. Psalm 53: The fool says in his heart, “There is no
God.” Psalm 111: The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom. So in the Bible, foolishness is unbelief and wisdom
is faith.
And
the Law of God also shows us how unbelief and the sin that flows from it is foolish.
This is not a mental problem or a lack of facts. In our minds we know we shouldn’t
yell at people, and lose our tempers with our spouse or our children. We know
that won’t help the situation. We know it won’t bring about happiness. But we
are overcome by our passions and give into our temptation to make ourselves
feel better, and we act like fools. In a very logical way, we know that lusting
after someone or taking something that doesn’t belong to us will not make us
happy in the end. We know it’s wrong. We know in our minds that a moment’s
sinful pleasure will only bring pain for us and for our loved ones. We know
that gossiping about someone behind their back is harmful to their reputation
and divides us, but we give into the guilty pleasure of a juicy story or an
uncharitable tale. Holding a grudge is stupid. Refusing to forgive someone is a
sin. These are all things that we know intellectually. But sin is not rational.
It doesn’t make any sense. It can’t be explained and it can’t be educated. It must be exposed, confessed with contrite
hearts. Unbelief and sin is
never good for us, and to try to convince ourselves otherwise is absolute
foolishness. It’s as foolish as taking a lamp but not bringing any oil to burn
in it. Repent.
The
real difference between the foolish and wise virgins is not that one group was
more sinful than the other. Both groups fell asleep while they waited, that is,
both groups succumbed to temptation and sinned. None of them kept watch
perfectly. The real difference is the oil, and the oil represents faith. The
foolish virgins had no oil, they were unbelievers and they sinned. The wise
virgins also sinned, but they had their oil. Remember, true wisdom is faith. Having
oil, having faith, does not mean never sinning, but it means thinking rightly
about our sins. It means recognizing your sins and being ashamed of them. It
means confessing your sins and wanting to do better. It means trusting that the
holy blood of Christ forgives your sins and redeems you to be a child of God. Here
is the first great comfort of this parable: You get into the heavenly banquet,
not because you are smart or perfect, but because you have oil. Not because you
never sinned, but because you have faith in Christ who never sinned, and yet
died in your place, and rose victorious.
The
second great comfort of the parable is given at the point which sometimes makes
us feel uncomfortable: The foolish virgins asked the wise ones for some of
their oil. But the wise refuse: “Since
there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy
for yourselves.” We might think they should share, that they’re not being
very nice. But that’s not the point Jesus is making. The wise refuse
because the oil is not theirs to give. It’s not their own possession. It was
given to them by “the dealers.” The foolish know who the dealers are but during
their life, they refused to go and “buy.” They wanted nothing of the true
faith. The foolish willfully rejected the Gospel. But the comfort for you is
that your faith is not your own creation.
You
have received it. The Lord Jesus sent His Holy Spirit into this world to work
through Holy Baptism, through the preached Word, and through the Sacrament of
the Altar to distribute forgiveness which creates, bestows, and strengthens
faith. Both the wise and foolish know this. Only the foolish don’t believe it,
and therefore don’t think they need it. The dealers of this holy oil are the
Christian Church and her ministers. This is where the oil of faith is received
in this life. And it’s free.
The fact that the oil is available for all is a
comfort because it means you are not burdened with converting the foolish of
this world in order to prove yourself to be a true Christian. Your oil is your
faith, and you cannot give it to someone else. You are not responsible for
someone else’s salvation and no one is going to hell because of what you did or
didn’t do or because of what you did or didn’t say. That includes people within
your own household. Conversion is God’s job, and His alone.
Now to be sure, the Lord may very well be using
you to convert others by what you do or say in your proper vocations (that’s
how He works). Parents have a God-given duty to teach the articles of faith to
their children, just as pastors also have a God-given duty to preach the whole
counsel of God to the people they are called to serve. And all Christians are
called to give a witness of their faith, confessing it by word and deed. But
the work of conversion, creating and sustaining faith, that is solely God’s
work and His responsibility. We often sin in our vocations. We fail to obey and
speak God’s Word when we should, out of laziness or fear. But it’s not your sin
that keeps anyone out of heaven. God is more powerful than your sin. He does
His work even despite your sin. Being a Christian doesn’t mean fulfilling your
vocation perfectly, but being wise means being contrite and confessing your
sins against your vocation. That makes your Father and the angels in heaven
rejoice.
The
oil of faith is being sold right now in this life, in this world. Come, buy without money and without price
(Isaiah 55:1). The price was paid on the cross when Christ suffered for
your sins. His blood flowed freely for you and for all. Now you get the oil of
faith for free when you are baptized and anointed with God’s Holy Name, when
you listen to God’s Word, and are soothed with the healing balm of the
absolution, when you eat and drink the Holy Supper, and are saved with the
medicine of immortality.
What a comfort it
is that you need not create your own oil, or keep your lamp burning with your
own power. The Lord, your Bridegroom, provides the oil you need. He distributes
it in His Church while there is still time. He delays His coming for our good,
so that all His faithful ones would be ready.
Christ
our Bridegroom warns us to keep watch, so that we would be prepared, and not
caught in foolishness, for we know
neither the day nor the hour of His arrival. But by His grace we have the
comfort of the forgiveness of sins, and the certainty that when the
announcement comes, we will trim our
lamps with the oil of faith and go into the wedding banquet of heaven that He
has prepared for us. Thanks be to
God.
Come quickly + Lord Jesus. Amen.
