Passage:
Matthew 25:1-13 “Then 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. 3 Those who were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.[a] 8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘What if there isn’t enough for us and you? You go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 While they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Most certainly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
Intro:
In this story, the bridesmaids were late to the wedding because they were unprepared. The doors had already been barred because they weren’t there when the Bridegroom came to bring them to the wedding.
In the days of Jesus, most weddings were held after the harvest. The approximate time of the wedding was known by the bride and the bridesmaids, as well as the bride’s family, and they would wait together at her home. But, the festivities wouldn’t begin until the groom arrived and asked to see the bride. He would then escort the bride and her family to his home, through the night, and the party would begin. No one except the father of the groom, who had to prepare the festivities, would know the exact day and hour he would set out.
A part of the excitement of the wedding was the anticipation and the waiting. I am certain the bride and her nearest friends would tell stories of the moment to come, when she would be claimed. Her mother and father likely prepared her for her wedding night, and she would have everything ready to be taken with her. But once they were ready, they would wait.
Now, there are two kinds of people, people who plan to be ready for the wait and those who don’t.
In the years before I entered seminary, I worked with many consultants. I must admit that some of them drove me crazy. They would wait to start on the project until the same day the customer declared they needed the final product. Since it always involved multiple people and multiple steps, they were always late. In fact, one consultant was so bad about this, he would schedule two meetings 50 miles apart. He would tell the people planning the second meeting that he would arrive at the same time he would be leaving the first meeting. He was an excellent example of the kind of person who would have run out of oil … and would have been surprised that the Bridegroom actually expected him to be ready and waiting.
In Seminary, it was the opposite, our professors were tough. Assignments had to be turned in at the time they were due (something I expect). One student tried to tell the professor that his work schedule and personal issues had made it impossible and asked for an extension. The professor turned to him and asked, “So, what are you going to say when you show up Sunday mornings? Will you ask them to return on Monday? You need to learn the art of being ready now. And if you think Seminary is hard, what are you going to do when you have to research and write a new sermon every single week?” Like pastors with our sermons, we must be ready when the Bridegroom comes.
Theme:
There are three things I want us to learn from this passage today. No one knows the hour Jesus will come. Jesus will return for us. We need to be ready.
Point 1: No one knows the day Jesus will return.
So first, no one knows when the bridegroom will be coming, just as no one knows when the Son of Man will return. Just so you know, Jesus didn’t divide his life up into chapters and verses, and this parable comes out of his discourse in Chapter 24 of Matthew. It begins with the disciples admiring the temple and him telling them a bit about the future, including the fact that the temple will be destroyed. He tells them that there are signs to watch for, but, and this is important. ““But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
Here are a few of the more famous upcoming events that have been predicted: I chose these off of Wikipedia
Jeane Dixon, who previously predicted the world would end on February 4, 1962, decided to hedge her bets by making her next prediction after her death. She has 2020 as the date of Armageddon and Jesus returning between 2020 and 2037. She died in 1965 of a heart attack, supposedly after speaking the words, “I knew this would happen.”
Kenton Beshore, pastor to the Mariners Church in Irvine, California has a wide spread of dates for the return of Jesus based on the reestablishment of Israel. While he originally predicted 1988 for the return of Christ, he has revised it to between 2018 and 2028, based on the meaning of the word generation. He now is using 70-80 years. I suppose, if Jesus does not return, he might want to add in Methuselah as a generation and give himself a wider timeline.
Messiah Foundation International has predicted the end of the world as 2026, when an asteroid will collide with the earth destroying it.
So, whenever you hear one of those predictions about the return of Jesus, I want you to relax. If the world will end and Jesus will come, it won’t be on any of those days. No one knows when Jesus will return.
Point 2: Jesus will return
We have covered the fact that no one knows the hour Jesus will come. Let’s move on to the fact Jesus will return for us and that we need to be ready.
Jesus will return, so do not tire of waiting. This is only one of a series of parables Jesus tells of his return.
The first is simple, the homeowner would have been prepared if he knew the hour of night the thieves would return. The second is about how faithful and unfaithful stewards act in the absence of their master when he has been gone a long time. The story that follows this involves the servants and the talents.
Because of the continuity of these parables, it is obvious Jesus wants us to understand … no matter how long it takes, He will return for us.
I see much in this age where people act like the unfaithful stewards. Perhaps it even began in the 60’s when the world declared God as dead. I know pastors and friends who believe that while what Jesus spoke of in saying he would return was metaphorical. Some do not believe that we will even encounter him after death. It is a sad world when the best we can hope for is to try to live a good life in memory of Jesus.
I can’t prove the fact that Jesus will return any more than I can prove that the world will end on a specific day or that Jesus won’t return at all, as many have declared. But I can remind you of this: the disciples of Jesus believed these parables Jesus spoke were important enough to write them down and share them with us. If we believe in Scripture, and if we believe in Jesus, we need to believe that Jesus will come for us. It is an essential part of our belief in who Jesus is and why Jesus came.
Many of us, for generations have flown into the arms of Jesus through death. And when he returns, it will be with them as an army with him, the saints returning to be reunited. As he promised in John 14 ““Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
We don’t know the day but we do know this: Jesus will come for us.
.Point 3: We need to be ready for when Jesus returns (Oil in our lamp)
We have covered: No one knows the hour Jesus will come and that Jesus will return for us. Now we need to talk about being ready for His return.
A lot of denominations get huge crowds by talking about the signs of Jesus return. We don’t. We believe that we need to focus not on the signs, but upon our behavior. All of us know one thing – unless we are Jeanne Dixon, who claimed to know she was going to die – we need to understand that we do not know the day and the hour we will fly into the arms of Jesus if he does not return before that date.
How can we be ready? In the Parable of the Bridesmaids, we hear that they didn’t have enough oil in their lamps to be ready. So. the word I am focusing on is enough … and I have some questions to challenge you.
Do you pray – enough?
In today’s world of texts, emails, and cell phones, we can reach out to family at any moment in time. And we do.
How often do you reach out to God, who is always only a thought away? We are not meant to live our lives alone, and when we pray it allows us to do many things.
Our prayers support others in need.
Our prayers support us when times are hard.
Our prayers bring us close to the author of our life, our Creator, our Redeemer, our Friend.
In this very closeness, we find ourselves strengthened and empowered.
Every time we pray we store oil in our lamp for the long hours ahead.
Do you read your Bible – enough?
In today’s world of internet, Facebook, instant news and instant answers, it is easy to seek wisdom in other sources. But there is nothing more foundational than reaching out to hear what God has on the subject.
A steady reading of even the hard passages of Scripture makes us wise in new ways. There are many plans to read through all of the Bible, but the easiest one is this – starting with the New Testament, start at the beginning and keep reading. When you reach the end, start over and do it again.
And when you are well founded in that, begin with Genesis and read straight through. Just open your Bible and keep going. I promise you that you will be at times surprised, at times horrified, but at all times blessed by reading. If you have questions, I am always happy to sit down with any of you.
The best thing that you will gain from reading the whole Bible, is that you will be less likely to fall into the habit of “proof texting” Scripture, picking out one or two to prove your point and ignoring the ones you don’t want to deal with in your point of view.
Every time we read our Bible we store oil in our lamp for the long night ahead.
Finally, do you act in faith – enough?
Just as we all work hard together for the Lord’s Acre Sale, Vacation Bible School, and the mission projects to our community, our everyday life is a ripe field for harvest.
I read recently about a pastor in a large town who went to a used clothing store and bought some very old clothing. He used it a few times while gardening until the clothing was a bit tattered and dirty. To be honest, it smelled. Covering his head with a well-worn hat, he sat on the front steps of the church one Sunday morning. All of his parishioners walked by. Not a single one invited him in. As the service began, he walked in, still wearing the clothing, and began a service on the book of James –
It is easy to work hard when others are watching and when we are in our safety zone. The rubber meets the road when we continue doing good when no one knows what we do.
Every time we give love in the name of Jesus, we store up oil for the uncertain days when we wait.
Conclusion:
As the Bridesmaids wait, they wait for an uncertain time, none of them know when the Groom will come, but they know that he will, and the wise bridesmaids have prepared themselves for the wait.
No one knows the hour Jesus will come. Jesus will return for us. We need to be ready.
Let us join together in the Apostles Creed, affirming that belief:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
