Sermon for 11/26/23: Last Sunday of the Church Year

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Watch and Wait

Matthew 25:1-13

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

 

Ten virgins pure watch in the dark, surrounded by temptations and dangers in the night. Outwardly they were all clean and undefiled. Nonetheless, these handmaidens of the Lord were overcome. Their flesh was weak. They were seduced by sleep. Their eyes grew heavy, and they gave in. And then came the midnight cry! It caught them unaware. For five of them the oil was all gone, wasted in foolish and vain pursuits. So then came the pleading: “Give us some of your oil!” But there was none to spare, for no one can believe for another. So out went the five foolish virgins into the night, seeking to purchase what can only be given and received. And they returned too late. The door was shut. Therefore, watch! Beware! Repent!

It is hard to stay awake these sleepy days. Peter, James, and John knew how that was when they watched with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Bible tells us that we are in the end times. We have been since our Lord’s death and resurrection. And with each day that passes, the shadows grow longer. Temptation grows stronger deeper in the night. It seems so futile to keep watch. We’ve waited already all our lives, and still He has not come. There are pleasures beckoning to us all around. And no one seems to care if we slip in a few winks, if we go off for a while into the ways of the world. Who can blame us? We are only human, after all. Must we really be so vigilant? Must we suffer all through this long night of days and months and years? Can’t we just have our fun and repent at the end? No, we can’t; that way leads to death. Now is the acceptable time; today is the hour of salvation. Even if our Lord should continue to delay His return, none of us knows when our last hour will come. Repent before it is too late!

For the sake of hope and confidence, notice that all ten of the virgins fell asleep. All of them! All ten were outwardly pure, and yet all ten failed in their vigil. What made five of them wise and the others foolish? The wise still had oil. By the grace of God, and nothing else—despite their weakness and carelessness, despite their arrogance and self-indulgence—they never completely gave up hope. They never stopped believing that He would come. They trimmed their lamps, and whatever oil was left was enough. Their oil had been given by God, and it was sufficient. If our Lord desires when He returns to be greeted by His faithful ones, then He must create them. By the grace God supplied, the five wise virgins were spared the coming wrath and saved.

And so, there is hope, even for you. You have not been so gravely defiled that you cannot be cleansed. Your God has not forgotten you. He brought you here this day for His purpose: to forgive you anew, to restore your purity, to recreate you strong in faith, undefiled, righteous and holy, wise in His ways. The world, of course, scoffs at this true wisdom, calling it foolishness. But it comes from God. And our Lord Jesus Christ is coming back to redeem what He has made and remade. He does all of this for you through His Word. By His Word He creates and restores. He called you by name in Holy Baptism, and you were reborn and made alive in those waters. He speaks this saving Word in the Holy Scriptures, in Holy Absolution, in faithful preaching Word—all in His Church. And He feeds these words made flesh to you in the Holy Supper. All of this He does so that He will be met on the last day with faith and praise and rejoicing, so that His dying and saving work would not be in vain. For, He has not fallen asleep. He does not forget His promise. He still and always loves you.

Concerning, then, the times and seasons, as St. Paul said, you have no need to have these things laid out completely before you. Paul didn’t know them anyway! No man knows the day nor the hour of the Lord’s return. All you need to know is that the day is surely coming. It will come suddenly, unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. God in His great love will steal you away from the darkness, death, and chaos of this fallen world. He will awake you from your traitorous sleep and trim your lamp. You will again be pure and undefiled. For you are not of the night of this world, no matter how sleepy you may feel. You are of the day because you belong to Jesus Christ!

God did not appoint you for wrath, St. Paul said. He appointed His Son for that task in your place, who hung on the cross for you, forsaken of His Father, defiled by death. The dark night of sin and death forever ended when the Dayspring from on high rose and gave eternal light to men. And in His death and resurrection, He gathers you to Himself. He died for you that you would live with Him. And He is returning soon, so that our endless life, face to face with Him, will begin. Therefore, watch and wait! Do not be afraid! Surely He is coming soon! “Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly!” In the name of the Father and of the Son (†) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.