Sermon - Last Sunday of the Church Year 2019 - Matthew 25:1-13

“But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’” There will come a day when Christ returns, with the sound of a trumpet, with the voice of an archangel, and we shall all be awakened from our slumber with that glad announcement.

Jesus has ascended into heaven, where He sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty, from whence He shall return to judge the living and the dead, the wise and the foolish. He shall return just as the disciples saw Him ascend.

Jesus Christ is our Bridegroom who will return to lead His holy church, the ten virgins, into the marriage feast of heaven with Him. This marriage feast is that glorious feast of victory of the Lamb of God who stands reigning upon His throne. This marriage feast is the new heavens and the new earth where we shall “be glad and rejoice forever,” and “no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.” 

My dear friends, there will come a day when this world is burned up like the dry dusty stubble left at the bottom of a grain bin. There will come a time when the former miserable things of this world are no more remembered, and that’s a good thing. This world is like being in a war, or being held in a hostage situation, there are some things better off forgotten. If we were to remember the atrocities that took place in this life once we reach heaven, we would be condemned to an eternity of living in our own personal hell with the worst case of PTSD imaginable. 

“No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days… They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity… They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the Lord.” All of the hurt and the pain, the untold tragedies, the days and years spent weeping, the wounds inflicted in body, mind, and soul, the horrible creeping guilt, every thought, word, and deed infused with sin: all of it gone, forgotten, and replaced with the joy and gladness of the heavenly wedding feast.

Our Lord is returning, and when He arrives we shall enter with Him into that marvelous feast forever. And so, “the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.” But lo, “the Bridegroom was delayed.” So we wait. The Bridegroom in His infinite wisdom tarries through the night, and the church waits for His arrival. Within the church, “Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.”So today Jesus teaches us the necessity not of getting ready, but of being ready. While the foolish will get ready when Jesus returns, the wise are vigilant and ready right now before He arrives.

I think we understand this concept already in a worldly sense. It’s wise to be prepared before something happens, and it’s foolish to get prepared once the thing happens. This is the motto of the Boy Scouts: It’s not “Get Prepared,” it’s “Be Prepared.” If you have a job to do, you don’t wait until it’s due to start working on the job, that’s foolish, you get it done before the due date, because that’s wise. You don’t wait until your house is on fire to purchase smoke detectors and fire extinguishers, you simply are prepared before the disaster ever happens! 

Likewise, if we understand the foolishness of not being prepared in worldly matters, then even more so must we understand the foolishness of not being prepared when it comes to spiritual matters! Afterall, if it’s foolish and crazy to go out and buy smoke detectors once your home is engulfed in flames, likewise it’s foolish and crazy to become a Christian once judgement day has arrived. For once judgement day comes, there’s no do-overs or restart buttons, you can’t rewind and go back and try it again; by then it’s too late.

When Christ returns, there is no time to waste. If you decide to wait until Judgement Day to start believing, then the door to heaven will be closed to you by the time you figure it out. “And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’”

Well that’s not very nice, now, is it! No, it’s not, but then again God isn’t nice. God is good, loving, compassionate, merciful, forgiving, patient, long-suffering, faithful, and gracious; but He’s not nice. If you’ve rejected Him in this life and have delayed to get ready for His return, then when He comes and you’re not ready, time’s up, you had your opportunity. 

While this door closing may not be very nice to those on the outside, the foolish virgins, whom the Lord turns away from the wedding feast; it is incredibly comforting to those wise virgins who are on the inside. A closed door is a comfort and security. At night time we close and bolt the doors in order to keep intruders out who may harm us. Likewise, the heavenly doors being closed is a great comfort to know that none of our enemies can sneak inside to harm us anymore. All of Satan’s attacks, his fiery darts, are locked outside of that door to heaven. Once that door is shut, never again will you fall prey to that evil foe. His temptations are gone. You are safe and secure inside the holy ark of heaven.

What’s more, if the only entrance to heaven is shut, and no one can get in, neither can you get out. Once you’re in heaven there’s no banishment or getting kicked out. Once you’re in, you’re in forever, and you never have to fear leaving that blessed paradise which shall be called your home. Once you’ve reached your heavenly goal, the wedding feast of the Lamb, you can be at peace forever. Never again will your heart ache as it does in this life. What joy awaits us in heaven! 

All of this joy and peace is ours in Christ Jesus because He, our bridegroom, opens the door to us by sending out the invitation in His Word, clothing us in the proper garments through baptism, washing us clean of all iniquity in the blood that He shed for us, and ushering us through those pearly gates with His arms spread open on the cross welcoming us home.

Everything is ready, the feast is prepared! Are you? Are you watching and waiting? Are you vigilantly prepared? Is your extra flask of oil filled up for the return of your Bridegroom?

So you might wonder, am I prepared? Am I ready? I don’t know your heart, but I do know that there are things we can do to be ready. So allow me to be very practical at the end of this sermon and instruct you in what it means to be ready. Those things which prepare us aren’t a secret or a mystery, you actually already know what they are, you just need to make use of them. 

The weekly Divine Service is the most obvious, I would think. For the Christian assembly, the most vital priority in our lives needs to be this weekly gathering together. Only here is Christ’s body and blood offered in the sacrament. Only here does the Christian church gather together to support one another. Only here does Christ come to His church in order to prepare us for heaven through His Word which is both spoken and preached. 

For the Christian, this weekly gathering is the most vital first step of being prepared for Christ’s return. My friends, do not forget this. Don’t abandon this gathering together as many in our communities are want to do. However, being a Christian and being ready for Christ’s return is actually more than just what happens on Sunday mornings, this is only the start.

Every day in your homes God continues to work in you through His Word to keep your prepared. So if you don’t currently do family devotions, I urge you to begin them today. It’s not complicated, just open up your Bible and start reading. Pick a book, any book, and enjoy! If something confuses you or stumps you, come in and chat with me, and if I don’t know the answer, I’ll do some research and learn alongside of you.

Buy a hymnal. These books in our pews aren’t meant to be only for church, but they’re made to be used in the home. Buy one for your home and sing the hymns of the season daily. Pray the prayer offices of Matins and Vespers. Set up a family altar at home with a crucifix and some candles, maybe some paintings of Christ or other Biblical figures. 

Open up your catechism and daily recite the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. Husbands, fathers, this is your duty and your job as the head of the household to lead your family in this. Your influence on your wife and children is vital to ensure that they’re prepared. 

Then outside of weekly and daily prayer, simply live out your lives as Christians. Let the light of Christ shine brightly in how you live. Be not afraid of people thinking you a strange person with unusual beliefs and practices! We are strange people because we’re not like the world around us, we’re different, we’re Christians! We’re ready, we’re vigilant and prepared for Christ’s return! 

My dear friends, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Wake awake, for night is flying!