As you all prepare to finish school this week and shift gears into the summer, I think it is important to do the same here with Breakaway. Over the last school year we have done a lot together. For the most part we spent the majority of our time focusing on one certain theme here on Monday nights. That theme has been, “Having Faith in God.”
The last three months have been focused mainly on the second half of that theme as we looked at the different attributes of God to help us understand why we can have faith in him. Things like His awesome power, His amazing grace, and His unfathomable love can not be matched by anyone or anything.
Before that though, we focused mainly on Hebrews 11, which is known as the hall of fame of faith.
We looked at the amazing story of Noah and how he built a boat in his front yard to get ready for rain to fall for the first time and flood the earth.
We looked at Abraham and his act of faith as he uprooted his family and left for a land that God would show him. Abraham then learned to have even more faith in God as God gave him a son even though he was almost 100 years old and then was challenged again when God told him to sacrifice his son.
We talked about the display of faith from Joseph as he told his kids that they were to carry his bones around and bury them in the Promised Land because he knew that God would stick to his promise.
We saw the amazing act of faith that Moses’ parents had as they disobeyed the Kings orders and hid their son from the King in order to save his life. Out of that, we got to see how Moses grew up and displayed his faith as he led the Israelite people out of slavery in Egypt.
We looked at Joshua as he ordered his people to walk around a city seven times in order to defeat the city of Jericho.
We saw Mary’s faith as she was told that she would have a child when she had never had sex before.
We watched Ruth abandon all that she knew to follow God as she refused to leave her mother-in-law Naomi.
And lastly, we looked at a man named Gideon and watched his faith grow as God chose him to deliver the Israelites out of bondage yet again.
As we have looked at these men and women of faith, there has been a common pattern to these stories. First, all of these stories were started when God asked them to do something for Him. He asked Noah to build a boat, he asked Abraham to get up and move, he asked Joshua to march around the city of Jericho, etc. Second, these people responded to God and obeyed him. As these men and women lived out their response, as they faced new circumstances and situations, it became very clear that they didn’t just respond and go through the motions. The response was a life changing decision that they displayed throughout the rest of their lives.
Tonight I would like to look at a parable of Jesus found in Matthew 25:1-13, which displays this same pattern and will give us some wisdom as we live out our own relationships with God.
***Have a youth read the passage***
In this passage we have ten women, who have all been invited to a great wedding banquet. These women, as most women would do when they were invited to a big wedding banquet, get all excited. They dressed themselves up, put on makeup, did their hair and made sure they had the perfect pair of shoes. Then, right before the left, they each grabbed a lamp because they knew they would be waiting outside for a while for the bridegroom to get there for the banquet to start. Verse 4 tells us though, that half of them brought along extra oil for their lamps while the other five only brought the lamp.
As they got to the banquet and sat down and began to wait, the wait ended up being longer than they all expected and the women all began to get a little tired and fell asleep. But then, the cry rang out. The bridegroom was here! The banquet is about to begin. Finally! The women awoke, and got ready to go and meet the bridegroom.
As the women trimmed their lamps wick so they could light it again and find their way inside to the banquet the five women who did not bring extra oil suddenly realize that their light is going out. “We don’t have enough oil!” they exclaimed. Thinking quickly, they ask their friends for some of their oil but there isn’t enough to be shared amongst everyone. The only option was to go and buy some more oil.
The women, very anxiously, probably took their fancy shoes off and grabbed the front of their dress in their hands so they could run faster. As the women sped away to the store, they no doubt were looking over the shoulders hoping to catch a glimpse of the bridegroom, excited about what would be awaiting them when they got back. As they are out though, the bridegroom comes and goes; the five who had the extra oil make their way to the door and in with the bridegroom. The door is shut behind them as they go in for the banquet.
The other five women make it to the store, get in and out, and make their way back to the banquet. Excited they knock at the door to announce that they have arrived. “Sir! Lord! We’re here! Let us in so we can enjoy the banquet with you.” As the bridegroom approached the door the women, no doubt, did not expect to hear the response that followed. “I tell you the truth,” the bridegroom said. “I don’t know you.” The bridegroom shut the door and went back to the banquet. The women, stood in disbelief, anger, and embarrassment that they missed the bridegroom and the biggest banquet of their lives.
As we look at these ten women there are two big similarities between them all. First off, every single one of them went out to check the mail one afternoon and found an invitation for the banquet. They weren’t going to the party uninvited! Second, all of them responded to the invitation and said they would be attending. They all got ready and went to wait for the banquet to begin. This is the pattern that we saw all year in the lives of those who displayed great faith for God.
As time went on though, only five continued on the same pattern and were prepared to meet the bridegroom. They were prepared and ready to wait if they had to. The other five were unprepared and were not ready to meet the bridegroom.
The reason Jesus told this parable was because he was teaching the disciples about the end times and how he would come back again at a time that no one knew. In the parable the bridegroom represents Jesus. Just as the bridegroom sent out invitations for a great banquet, Jesus too has sent an invitation to everyone to have a relationship with Him. Everyone in this room has been given an invitation as Jesus has extended his hand to you and offered to give you eternal life.
The oil in this parable represents true commitment to a relationship with Christ. All ten women responded, but five of the women were only going through the motions. They didn’t prepare themselves and make themselves ready, they just showed up and expected to be fine. The bridegroom admitted though, that he never knew them.
In life, a relationship with God is something that needs to be constantly worked on. It should be a commitment where we are trying our best to continue to grow closer and closer to God. We can not expect to just go through the motions of church and God and expect that to be good enough. If the men and women we looked at throughout the year had just been going through the motions they wouldn’t have made it through their tough times. They wouldn’t have been honored and listed as having had such great faith. Today, they would be forgotten or only known as an example of what not to do!
At some point, Jesus is going to come back to take us home to be with Him in paradise. Verse 13 tells us that we don’t know the day or hour at which Jesus will come back. The verse implies an important question, “Are you ready?” If Jesus came back right now would you be prepared and ready? If Jesus came back right now would be able to be listed as a man or woman of faith next to Noah, Abraham, Mary, and the likes of Hebrews 11?
I urge you guys, to think about this question. If you haven’t accepted Christ’s invitation of the cross, what are you waiting for? All you have to do is pray and accept Christ’s gift of the cross. Please though, don’t just go through the motions! If you have responded to the cross, work as hard as you can to make Jesus a constant part of your life. That is what a true relationship with God is all about.
