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Readings: Matthew 25:1-13; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Isaiah 65:17-25
In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Next week Advent starts with its countdown to Christmas. That means a new church year starts for us. But we are not there yet. Today, on this last week of the church’s year, we hear a parable told by Our Lord in the last week of His life. And it concerns us! But not us right now. Us in the future. At that time, when Our Lord comes again. It concerns the kingdom of God. It concerns all the baptized ones.
In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Next week Advent starts with its countdown to Christmas. That means a new church year starts for us. But we are not there yet. Today, on this last week of the church’s year, we hear a parable told by Our Lord in the last week of His life. And it concerns us! But not us right now. Us in the future. At that time, when Our Lord comes again. It concerns the kingdom of God. It concerns all the baptized ones.
It concerns what will happen to us at the end of time, when Our Lord comes again. The parable tells us the end happens at a time when all those mentioned in the parable are dead. Fallen asleep. (Matthew 25:5) Waiting for their bodies to be raised. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 5:10)
Now each of these attendants of the bride had a lamp. (Matthew 25:1) For Thy Word is lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105) These ten brides maids are those given light by the Word of God. It was first given in Holy Baptism when God’s own name was placed on them. Therefore, they are attendants of Bride of Christ, the Church. (Ephesians 5:25-27) This parable is about baptized ones.
But what did Our Lord note about these baptized attendants of the Bride? Some brought oil for their lamps and others did not. (Matthew 25:3-4) All nodded off. All slept. The wise and the foolish alike. (Matthew 25:5) i.e., all of them died before the great and glorious coming of our Lord, the Bridegroom, whose coming brings great joy! Moreover , His coming (again) wakes the sleeper. (Matthew 25:6) Even those slumbering in death will be awoken by Him. By the shout of archangel and the trumpet of God. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) Rising. Waking up to new life in Christ Our Lord.
Now each of these attendants of the bride had a lamp. (Matthew 25:1) For Thy Word is lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105) These ten brides maids are those given light by the Word of God. It was first given in Holy Baptism when God’s own name was placed on them. Therefore, they are attendants of Bride of Christ, the Church. (Ephesians 5:25-27) This parable is about baptized ones.
But what did Our Lord note about these baptized attendants of the Bride? Some brought oil for their lamps and others did not. (Matthew 25:3-4) All nodded off. All slept. The wise and the foolish alike. (Matthew 25:5) i.e., all of them died before the great and glorious coming of our Lord, the Bridegroom, whose coming brings great joy! Moreover , His coming (again) wakes the sleeper. (Matthew 25:6) Even those slumbering in death will be awoken by Him. By the shout of archangel and the trumpet of God. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) Rising. Waking up to new life in Christ Our Lord.
But notice: only those baptized bridal attendants who brought oil with them are ready when the Bridegroom comes. (Matthew 25:7-10) For though Baptism clothes you in Christ’s righteousness (Galatians 3:27) and outfits you with the Lamp of the Word of God, we human beings run out of oil, run down, are leaky vessels, and cracked pots. Though the Holy Spirit was poured into you at your Baptism, His presence and power in you seems to ebb and flow doesn’t it? Which is why we find ourselves praying in the next few wks of Advent: Stir up our hearts, O Lord. (First Sunday of Advent) Stir up Your power, O Lord. (Second Sunday of Advent) Get it active. Pour out Your Spirit anew on us. For apart from His Spirit flowing in us we are dead, lifeless, frail, cracked pots. (2 Corinthians 4:7) Ready to be crushed. But with His Spirit, by His Word lightening our hearts and minds we are awake. Watching for His coming. Wise to what’s going on. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-2). Ready for Him. We know His coming will be sudden. Any moment. But we will not be caught off guard, even if we should sleep the sleep of death. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10) His call will waken us. We will trim our wicks. (Matthew 25:7) Pour on fresh the oil of joy. (Psalm 45:7; Isaiah 61:3; 35:10) So that our witness to Him and His Word will burn even brighter on that day than when we were awake and walking with Him in faith on earth.
Can you imagine brothers and sisters, falling asleep in Jesus, just as our beloved sister Sarah Turnquist did earlier this week? One moment in your body you are dying, feeling full effects of your birth according to the inheritance of death given you by Adam and Eve. But the next thing your body knows, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51-53), it is rising from the most refreshing sleep you’ve ever had. Because you’ve been asleep in the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14) At peace. Resting securely. And you wake up changed! Imperishable. Immortal. Filled with endless vigor and life. (1 Cornithians 15:42-44) For you are now eternally free from the curse of sin. (1 Corinthians 15:54-57) Alive in His eternal kingdom which He has prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:34) to which He’s been putting the finishing touches ever since He returned to His Father’s right hand. (John 14:2-3) He’s readying you for the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which has no end. (Matthew 25:10; 22:2-4; Revelation 19:7)
Can you imagine brothers and sisters, falling asleep in Jesus, just as our beloved sister Sarah Turnquist did earlier this week? One moment in your body you are dying, feeling full effects of your birth according to the inheritance of death given you by Adam and Eve. But the next thing your body knows, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51-53), it is rising from the most refreshing sleep you’ve ever had. Because you’ve been asleep in the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14) At peace. Resting securely. And you wake up changed! Imperishable. Immortal. Filled with endless vigor and life. (1 Cornithians 15:42-44) For you are now eternally free from the curse of sin. (1 Corinthians 15:54-57) Alive in His eternal kingdom which He has prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:34) to which He’s been putting the finishing touches ever since He returned to His Father’s right hand. (John 14:2-3) He’s readying you for the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which has no end. (Matthew 25:10; 22:2-4; Revelation 19:7)
It’s glorious. It’s wonderful. It’s what awaits you, o sleepyhead. So throw off your spiritual slumber. For one day you will fall asleep in the Lord if He doesn’t return first. But do not rest on your laurels. You’ve been baptized into Him. You’ve been given a lamp to guide you through life and to lead others through this dark night of our world unto Him who is the light and the life. But don’t get drowsy. Don’t get bored with your lamp in the midst of this darkness. If you find yourself tiring of Church, bored with His means of salvation—the preached word of life (Ephesians 6:17; Romans 1:16), the foretaste of the feast to come (Matthew 26:26-28; Revelation 19:9), the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5; Romans 6:3-6)—repent! For these are your life here-below. They are the oil in your lamp. They are the means by which the Holy Spirit gives you oil, readying you for the Bridegroom’s coming. So have faith in His promises. Top up your lamp and flask of oil regularly. If you slumber let it be the actual slumber of physical death. A blessed death died in trusting Christ Jesus. (Psalm 116:15) Not the laziness of spiritual death which turns to the world and its cares for your meaning, by partying, drinking, living for the weekend and your camp or whatever fickle fancies the world holds out for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:5-7) Be wake in Christ. Live from the light of His Word.
For in Christ there is life and exceeding gladness in the glorious sunshine of His eternal love. Apart from Him there is weeping and gnashing of teeth in the outer darkness of eternal death. (Matthew 22:13)
And when we all wake on that Last Day in the resurrection of the dead, do not be like the remaining ones (Matthew 25:8-12) who were left out of the ark when God closed Noah, his family and the animals in (Genesis 7:15-16, 21-22). Do not be like those foolish virgins who thought that the faith of their spouse, children, parents, or grandparents would be enough for them. Do not think only that, “I am baptized. Once you’re dunked your good.” “You know, as long as your hatched matched, and dispatched by the Church your good.”
For in Christ there is life and exceeding gladness in the glorious sunshine of His eternal love. Apart from Him there is weeping and gnashing of teeth in the outer darkness of eternal death. (Matthew 22:13)
And when we all wake on that Last Day in the resurrection of the dead, do not be like the remaining ones (Matthew 25:8-12) who were left out of the ark when God closed Noah, his family and the animals in (Genesis 7:15-16, 21-22). Do not be like those foolish virgins who thought that the faith of their spouse, children, parents, or grandparents would be enough for them. Do not think only that, “I am baptized. Once you’re dunked your good.” “You know, as long as your hatched matched, and dispatched by the Church your good.”
But dear ones, that’s not faith which trusts in Jesus, which loves Him and looks to Him for every good. For which of us would believe the man who goes on and on about how much he loves his wife, all while living in a separate home, in the same city, but never seeing, never visiting, never spending time, or supporting her financially, or practicing the blessed ways between a married man and woman? It’s a sham. So don’t believe those who say they have peace and security in the Lord but then want nothing to do with Him or His Church or His foretaste of the feast to come where He gives His peace and security. That’s not watching. That’s not walking with the Lord and waiting for Him. Sudden death could seize and overwhelm such a person at any moment (1 Thessalonians 5:3), for none of us knows when the Lord will come, and will they be ready? But for you who know that He has died for you and who desire His salvation, filling up your lamp with His good gifts, He has prepared a place for you in eternity. So whether we are awake on this side of the grave, or sleeping in the grave, we will all be ready in Him by His Spirit, who has been poured out into our hearts and is poured again every time we hear the Word of His death and resurrection proclaimed to us for us. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)
In +Jesus’ name, Amen.
—Pastor David Haberstock
Epiphany Lutheran Church
Thunder Bay, ON
In +Jesus’ name, Amen.
—Pastor David Haberstock
Epiphany Lutheran Church
Thunder Bay, ON
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