Last Sunday of the Church Year

1 Thessalonians 5:1–11

St. Matthew 25:1–13

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

When our Lord returns in glory, the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. These virgins are the bride’s attendants, whose job it was to greet the bridegroom as he was coming from his parent’s house to his bride’s home. Then they would join the wedding procession to the new home that the bridegroom had prepared for his wife, and there the party would begin. In this parable, Jesus is talking about the Church, not people of other religions, outside the Church. All ten ladies are virgins carrying lamps—they all look the same. These ten maidens represent members of the Church: they appear outwardly pure, they bear the name Christian. But not all outward members of the Church are true believers. These ten virgins are not all the same.

Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The simple meaning behind the terms foolish and wise is unbeliever and believer. But there’s more to learn from these terms. This Greek word for foolish is actually where we get our word, “moron.” Bet you didn’t know that Jesus calls people morons. It’s quite an insulting word to us, but it’s a good word. If we think someone is a moron, we don’t mean someone who just lacks knowledge. Ignorance can be educated—you can learn new things if you want to. But we would say a moron is someone who’s not street-smart. They lack common sense: like not bringing oil. It’s nighttime, you’ve got lamps, and you don’t bring oil? Pretty dumb.

But the truth of the parable is that sin is stupid and sin makes us stupid. We know there are bad consequences to sin. We know God is not happy with us when we’re careless or go ahead against better judgment and sin anyway. But being sinners, we convince ourselves that we are right and we refuse to be corrected. The moronic virgins and people like them are not uneducated people, they are stubborn. They do not want to learn from God’s Word. They do not want to admit that they are wrong, that they have failed, that they need help and that they need to learn something new. Not wanting to repent of sin, and not wanting to learn from God’s Word, is foolish. It’s as foolish as bringing lamps with no oil.

The other five virgins are called wise. The Greek word here for wise also means “sensible or thoughtful.” Again, we’re not talking about book-smarts. You don’t have to study a lot and know a lot of facts in order to be wise. But it means you want to learn, you want to be a better person than you are now, and you are open to being changed. The best meaning for the word is actually “prudent.” This word Jesus uses is one of the four human virtues. The classical Greeks identified four virtues that are necessary to be a good human: justice, courage, self-control, and prudence. Being prudent means that you care about future things. This could be something big, like saving for retirement, or something small, like bringing oil for your lamps when waiting for the bridegroom.

These five wise virgins were prudent—they were ready for difficult circumstances. They were ready to admit they might be wrong about the Bridegroom’s arrival. Maybe they thought he would arrive sooner, but he was delayed. These prudent ladies planned ahead. Prudence—looking forward to the future, planning for and caring about the future—this is the virtue that listens to Jesus’ warning: Watch… for you know neither the day nor the hour. This means that the wise person wants to prepare now for Jesus’ return. You want to learn what He has to teach you in His Word. And you’re open to being corrected. You know you’re a sinner, so when you hear yourself being judged and your sin condemned, your first reaction is not to take offense or be outraged and storm off, but you repent. You want to turn away from your sin and try to do what God expects. You know you have failed and so you also want to do better. Most importantly, you want to get what Jesus offers now in His Word and Sacraments, so that you will be ready when He comes.

That last part really is the most important, because your prudence is not enough. Your effort to be on guard against sin, your work to prepare and obey God’s commands—that isn’t enough. All ten virgins became drowsy and slept, even the prudent ones. You have failed, and you will fail again. You can’t make yourself ready by your own power. And the church you belong to can’t do it for you either. Just playing the part, showing up once in a while or helping out when the congregation needs something—that won’t be good enough when the Bridegroom shows up. You need something else. You need something more than justice, courage, self-control, and prudence. The Christian Church recognizes that those human virtues are good and true, but we also recognize that the Bible tells us something else. We need the theological virtues: faith, love, and hope.

What we need is the oil for our lamps. In an oil lamp, the wick needs to be in oil—that’s the fuel for the fire. With no oil, the wick would burn up very quickly and go out. But with the oil, the wick burns slowly, brightly, steadily, because the wick is drawing up the oil so the flame is feeding on the oil. For us, in the Kingdom of Heaven, the oil is God’s Word and Sacraments: the Holy Scriptures and the preaching of those Scriptures that create faith by the power of the Spirit and instruct us in the life that is pleasing to God; Holy Baptism, the Name of God joined to the water that washes our sins away and gives us new birth as God’s children; Holy Absolution, the declaration of the forgiveness of sins spoken aloud so that you may be certain of God’s grace and have a good conscience before Him; and the Holy Communion, the feast of Christ’s true body and blood that forgives sin, enlivens faith, strengthens love, and saves us for eternity. These are where and how we get the oil for our lamps. These are the holy things that the flame of faith must feed on. Without this holy oil of the Word and Sacraments, our faith would sputter and go out. But with this oil, the flames of faith, love, and hope can burn brightly, all through the long night of waiting—waiting for our Bridegroom to arrive.

Now the fact that we need this oil and can’t do without it on our own means that it is really the Lord Himself who makes you ready for His coming. While our prudence is necessary, it’s not the thing that saves us. While our faith, love, and hope are necessary, these also are not why we are saved. We are made ready for Jesus’ return, we are saved, because He died for us and rose again; because He loves us enough to deal with our sin, to rebuke us and to forgive us; because He speaks to us and He is faithful to His promises.

In the Epistle, we were told that the Lord provides us with the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. There’s those three theological virtues again. Our Lord gives us the gift of faith in Him, and He kindles in our hearts the gift of love for our neighbors. He also inspires in us the sure and certain hope of His return on the Last Day. We know the future that has been promised to us. Christian hope is the greatest prudence of all: not merely working and planning for the future, but confidently trusting in the Lord who will come again to rescue us from every evil. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep (alive or dead) we might live with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Do not be foolish and do not confirm other people’s foolishness. But be wise for yourself and for one another. Encourage your fellow Christians to live a holy life in keeping with God’s Word. Build up your fellow believers by speaking and singing that Word to them, and by praying for them. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul and body, be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it (1 Thessalonians 5:23–24).

Come quickly + Lord Jesus. Amen.

Last Sunday of the Church Year (Trinity 27)

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.

The section illustrating the foolishness of sin, and the section on the dealers come from Rev. Michael Frese, Trinity 27, 2015, online.

Last Sunday of the Church Year

1 Thessalonians 5:1–11

St. Matthew 25:1–13

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit –

“Peace and Security!” That was the slogan circulating at the church of the Thessalonians. We’ve heard similar slogans in our day, haven’t we? We use them on Facebook and Twitter. We hear them from our favorite Media personalities. We hear them from our president and from foreign presidents. We are all looking for peace and security. Every single candidate running for office promises to be the one who will bring peace and security to our country. It’s a political slogan that’s been around as long as there have been politics.

The problem with saying “peace and security” is, if in reality, there isn’t any. The Old Testament rulers of Judah promised peace and security, but the prophets warned that the opposite was coming: Babylonian armies surrounding Jerusalem, war, and captivity. Who are the unnamed “they” in Thessalonians – the ones who make such false promises? Could “they” also be us? Peace and security for America? With walls on the border, and drone strikes, or higher taxes and increasing welfare. Just ignore the threats of an evil religion and insist on tolerance. Or peace and security for Immanuel, Charlotte? With more people in the pews, more money in the plates. Just don’t offend people by talking about sins. Are these the things we think make for peace and security? Where have we placed our trust?

All of these things come from our own doing, instead of from the Lord’s doing. And everything that comes from our own doing is shaky and insecure. It cannot last and it cannot save – it ends in destruction. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. When our attention and confidence is on our works and our plans, then destruction comes. And there is no escaping when the birth pains begin. When the woman goes into labor and the baby is coming it doesn’t matter if you’re ready at the hospital or not. Or think of it another way: the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. The point here is not what the thief does – our Lord is not a robber who hurts and steals – But the point is when the thief comes. You don’t know when! Thieves don’t make appointments. And at night it’s most likely he’ll catch you unawares while you’re sleeping.

It’s generally true what Paul says here about the night: Sleeping and getting drunk happen at night. That means, sleeping and getting drunk are the opposite of being awake, and being sober, that is, being watchful, thinking clearly. All of this is running with Paul’s metaphor for the Last Day, the Day of the Lord: The thief coming at night and the birth pains are like the coming of the Day of Lord. And for those that are sleeping and drunk, meaning, for those not watching, for those looking for peace and security from man and from their own plans, for those who are of darkness and night, that Day is one of destruction for them. That Day is wrath. But! You are not of darkness, brothers and sisters. You are children of light. You are children of the Day!

Paul is really a masterful writer, in how he weaves his metaphors together: inescapable birth pains, inescapable and unknowable thief, thief at night is like the Day of the Lord. You are children of the Day. But what Paul means when he says, we belong to the Day, is not just some general idea of day vs. night, or darkness vs. light. That’s part of his metaphor. But Paul is talking about a specific Day, a real Day. The reality is you are children of THE DAY – the Last Day. The Day of the Lord is part of your identity. You belong to that Day, even though it is still in your future.

The wakeful and sober watching for that Day is not of our own doing for that would be shaky and insecure. But the watchfulness goes with the armor: the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. All this given to you as gifts from the Lord. For you who believe, the Day of the Lord does not come with wrath but with salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. He has already given this salvation to you. That’s the Gospel. The Day of the Lord, the Day of salvation first happened at your baptism. In the water and in the Name of the Lord, the judgment of Judgment Day was handed down: your sins are forgiven, you are sons and daughters of God, children of Light, children of the Day. All we wait and watch for is the Day when that judgment is made for all the world to see and hear. All we wait and watch for is the Day when salvation is seen for what it already is: the victory of God in Christ Jesus who died, is risen, and is coming again. On that Day salvation will be complete.

We should still probably say something here about those virgins in Jesus’ parable. The difference between the five foolish virgins and the five wise virgins was not something in themselves. Any works, plans, or ideas that come from us are always shaky and insecure. But the foolish virgins were foolish because they went out with lamps to meet the Bridegroom but with no oil. Lamps with no oil won’t do you any good. They were not prepared for the Bridegroom’s coming. They didn’t believe. They were children of the night and of darkness. On the other hand, the wise virgins were prepared. They knew what they were going out to do and they were ready – they believed. They had their lamps and they had oil for those lamps. They were already children of the Day. Their welcome into the wedding feast was set when they came out ready with lamp and oil. It didn’t matter how long the Bridegroom was delayed, they were ready. There was no surprise for them on Judgment Day, just as there will be no surprise for you who believe now. The Lord prepares you for His coming by giving you faith and keeping it alive. You listen to His Word and watch for His coming. By faith in Christ, you already belong to the Day of the Lord.

Until that Day, we trust in the Lord, our God of peace and security everlasting. When the Lord makes peace it is never shaky. His promises are secure. He gives us salvation so that whether we are awake or asleep, saints in heaven or saints here below, we live with Him. By our Lord’s death and resurrection, by grace, by His Word of forgiveness, by His Holy Supper, we have true peace and security. The living Body and Blood that will stand upon the earth for all to see is the same living Body and Blood that you receive now hidden under the bread and wine. The Son of God who will come again is the same Son of God who comes and gives Himself to you now. And what He gives you now hidden in His Supper: forgiveness, peace, eternal life, He will give the same to you then, on that Day, not hidden, but brought out into the light of that Day.

Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up. The Last Day is for your encouragement – it’s the Lord’s Day for you. Because He is coming to save you. Hear this final word from Paul: Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it. (5:23-24)           

Come quickly + Lord Jesus –

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Charlotte, IA

November 22, 2015