Sermon - Last Sunday 2020 - Matthew 25:1-13

 Christ said, “The Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.” Thus, the church is like the ten virgins, sitting outside of the bride’s house awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom to bring them into the wedding feast. St. Paul wrote: “Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” Thus, the church is also like the military, armed and prepared for battle, ready for anything and everything, at a moment’s notice!

As the virgins, which were like bridesmaids, our job is to wait for the bridegroom and when he comes we carry lamps to enlighten the darkness. As soldiers of the cross, our job is to be prepared for an enemy assault, by keeping our gear, minds, bodies, and hearts in tiptop condition. In both cases our job is to be prepared, to be awake and alert. We’re waiting not for our enemies to attack (they’re already doing that), but we’re waiting for our bridegroom who comes unexpectedly like a thief in the night. The cry and command for us at the end of the church year is to be prepared and wake up, since Christ is coming!

But what does this mean? What does it mean to wake up? Are we supposed to get “woke” like the kids say? Are we supposed to literally stop sleeping or literally put on armor and buy guns? No, not that, nothing so simple and worldly. Actually it’s just the opposite of getting “woke” and getting ready for a worldly battle. When Christ commands us “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour,” He’s instructing us to be less focused on worldly affairs, and more focused on heavenly affairs. 

Over the past eight months our attention has been largely devoted to two things: Covid and the elections. We’ve spent hours studying governors’ mandates, perusing the CDC and WHO guidelines, medical reports from doctors and scientists about how viruses spread and are treated, how vaccines are manufactured and utilized. We’ve argued over political rhetoric, supreme court nominations, the character and intelligence and ability of our politicians; we’ve thoroughly studied our constitution and election procedures. Our attention has been quite successfully diverted to exclusively worldly affairs over the past 8 months.

But that’s nothing new to 2020. Our attention is very often exclusively invested in worldly matters. It’s figuring out our next vacation, trying to make it to all of the kids’ and grandkids’ activities, going to work for the next paycheck, getting chores done around the house or the farm, deciding what’s for supper, or what show to watch tonight.

Now, don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying our worldly affairs aren't’ worth thinking about. In fact, worldly affairs are sometimes very important, and we must invest a lot of attention to them and prepare for various situations. That said, our worldly affairs mustn't exclusively occupy our minds and hearts, because there’s something greater at stake! Namely, our very souls and eternal salvation are at play here!

So set a limit on how much your worldly affairs may occupy your minds and hearts, so that you may be adequately prepared for something much greater: the coming of Christ. Therefore, let us be prepared like soldiers. Let us put on the breastplate of faith and love. The breastplate is a defensive piece of equipment, like a kevlar vest, it covers the most vulnerable part of our bodies. The spiritual breastplate is faith and love. 

Thus the Christian has faith, not just some vain outward appearance, but a living and active faith which trusts in God beyond all visible reason. This faith manifests itself in love, first towards God and second towards the neighbor. Christian faith and love aren’t of human design, which would be merely ornamental and of no real defensive value, but are fashioned by God and rooted in Him. This godly breastplate allows us to stand in light of God’s glory when He returns. 

But even though the breastplate protects the heart, it’s not much use if there isn’t a head to guide it. So we are also to put on the helmet of the hope of salvation. Hope is what motivates us to stay in the battle and defend the castle even when we’re cornered, pinned down, outnumbered, and gravely wounded. We can bravely stay awake, lift our heads to the east, and see that relief is on the way and will be here any moment! Christ, our Savior is risen and He’s coming soon to relieve us from battle!

Hope is a virtue, and I believe it’s the most forgotten and neglected virtue. For generations now we Christians have forgotten that we’re at battle, we’ve been on furlow and forgotten we’re at war. But if you’re comfortable and you forget the war, then you also cease to have a reason to hope. So hope gets forgotten. 

But now recently we’ve been reminded that there’s a war going on, and it’s not far away, it’s right here! There’s a battle being waged on our front steps, in our homes, in our hearts, over our souls! We’ve been sleeping, we’ve passed out, but now the war’s jolted us awake and we’re quick to panic and cower and hide in fear. 

But I’m here to remind you that there’s hope! Christ has won the war! Our victor is on His way and He’ll be here soon to take us out of the fray. So don’t stop fighting, we have hope in the certain victory of salvation. Lift up your heads ye mighty gates, behold the King of Glory waits! Stand up, awaken, arise from your slumber, be on guard, don’t give up the fight! Our Savior is coming!

So just as hope keeps us motivated for the battle, likewise, it motivates us to store up the oil of faith in the flasks of our hearts. Therefore our lamps may burn through the dark night and guide us to the wedding feast when Christ our Bridegroom returns. So how do you fill up your flask? How do you get prepared before the bridegroom arrives? You go to the dealers.

Thankfully for us, the Dealer, God, gives it away out of His generosity. The spiritual oil which fills our lamps is the means of grace. God’s holy word and blessed sacraments are the oil our flasks need to remain full. Just as a virgin must have oil with her for her lamp, just as a soldier must keep his equipment conditioned and attend drills, so too we Christians must be filled with the Word of God and His blessed sacrament. 

This is why every Divine Service is a foretaste of the heavenly feast. This is why we sing so many of the best hymns which talk about death and our hope of salvation in Christ. It’s why we say the Nicene Creed which reminds us that Christ is coming again and His kindgom will have no end. It’s why we sing the Offertory, that God would restore the joy of salvation in us. It’s why, after receiving the foretaste of the feast, we tell God “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace ... for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.”

That’s why we prepare! We’ve seen God’s salvation! We already know what’s coming. We want to be with the five wise virgins and enter into the feast, before the door is shut. Because once the door is shut, once Christ’s returned, it’s too late to get ready.

When the foolish virgins come, and beg the Master to open the door to them, all the Lord can say to them is: “I do not know you.” If we’re not prepared for Christ who comes like a thief in the night, if we’re sleeping and given up, if our armor is missing and our flasks are empty, then when Christ returns we will be shut out of the kingdom and left in a miserable pit. 

So like I said earlier, the very salvation of our souls is at stake here. This is more important than our recreations and work, more important than our temporal government, more important even than a virus which may kill us. “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 we might live with him.”

This is the main reason we have to be prepared for Christ’s coming. We’re not supposed to go to hell. He’s destined us to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ! That’s why, even though we’ve fallen asleep, we have a very good reason to wake up now and be prepared for Christ’s imminent return. 

“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” So let’s all sound the joyous alarm and wake each other up! If we see one another getting drowsy and faint, let’s be there for each other to keep God’s church ready. When you see another flask running dry, fill it up with God’s Word. When you see a soul despairing, put on their helmet of hope. When the troops are getting worn down, sing even louder, and so put on the breastplate of faith and love. Behold, God is creating a new heaven and new earth, so let us be glad and rejoice forever.