Matthew 25:1-13
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Sermon
Between the times I graduated from college and went to seminary I preached at a local homeless shelter in my home town. Once every couple of weeks I was up for duty. The shelter made the homeless men sit through some young wet behind the ears preacher wanna–be before they could eat. I was one of those young preachers. One particular week I forgot that it was my week. The week got away from me and about an hour before the time I was to speak it dawned on me that I was to speak. In a panic, I rushed to clean up and get going and while I was driving there I commenced to praying. I prayed a hard and desperate prayer. “Please, Lord, give me the words to speak. I know that you promise to give the words at the right time. So please, now, dearest Lord Jesus, enter into my mind and out through my voice. Speak through me.” Well, when I arrived, I gathered myself at the makeshift pulpit, laid my Bible on it, tuned my heart to heaven and waited for a brief moment. I still had no idea what I was going to say. Then, it happened! I found the right frequency. The Lord spoke to me. And do you know what the Lord said to me? The Lord said, “Mike, you didn’t prepare.” And I had nothing. Those were some of the longest and most painful moments I ever spent behind a pulpit. Those poor homeless men.
Well, today as we celebrate All Saints Sunday, I want to help you get prepared. Prepared for the final call. Prepared for the final moment. Prepared for the end. The end of your life, and the end of the world as we know it. That’s why we have Matthew 25:1-13 as our reading for the day. For it too is about the end. Jesus says “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to this” And what is this? It is a wedding banquet. Do you like weddings? I know I do. Weddings are full of hope, and promise. They are full of food and drink. They are full of music and dance. People today really get into weddings. Even the guests dress up. We don’t dress up for church anymore. But we do for weddings.
We do a lot of weddings here at Risen Lord. It’s such a pretty place to get hitched, you know. And one of the things I really try to impress upon couples who get married here is to soak it up. “Relax,” I say. Get into the moment. It goes fast. I mean really from the time the bride shows up at the back up the church, often with her father at her arm, until the time the newly wed couple walk out of the church arm in arm, it is about 25 minutes. Just twenty-five minutes for committing your life together. An event that takes months and for some years to plan, is over in the blink of an eye. Then they rush out to the reception hall for a little “Boogy Fever” or “Stayin’ Alive,” maybe if their lucky some Frank Sinatra. Then some cake. But after that, everyone heads home. Then the newlyweds wake up in the next day or two and start washing clothes, paying bills, cutting the grass, and cleaning toilets.
Jesus says that the kingdom of God, the place of God’s abode, where God’s will and way is the only way, where there is no darkness there, no crying or sighing, or dying, where love and freedom, and joy, and peace extend out from the Father without end . . . that place is like a marriage feast. It is one giant wedding banquet, non-stop music and dancing and laughter and hope. And it goes on forever. People just move in and stay.
But we need to be prepared. We need to get ready. So Jesus tells this parable in Matthew 25:1-13 to help us get our heads straight. There are some things you and I need to be aware of, things to be ready for. There are some things you need to expect.
One.
Expect to wait for a while. The time between when you join the wedding party and when it begins often takes longer than you planned. That’s what some of the bridesmaids learned in today’s lesson. They are waiting for the groom. In the New Testament, the groom is always Jesus Christ. He is the one for whom the faithful are waiting. Sometimes the faithful are called the Bride of Christ. Sometimes, like today, they are referred to as bridesmaids. Some of the bridesmaids are called “foolish,” five are “wise.” The foolish didn’t prepare. Like me in that homeless shelter they were not ready. They are what we call a bunch of “knuckleheads.”
It’s not just kids that have a tough time waiting, is it. As adults, we have a hard time letting things take their course. From standing at the express cashier lane at the grocery store to waiting for job offers, we sometimes find ourselves having to gut-out the clock.
Two
Expect to run out of energy. The knucklehead bridesmaids didn’t quite have their act together. Don’t be mistaken though. They are part of the community. Part of the church. They know who they are and why they are there. They believe in the Groom and who he is. They just didn’t get their act together. They come up a little short, didn’t have the fuel to go the distance in their waiting for the Lord.
If the truth be known, I don’t know of anyone in church that really has their act together spiritually. There is a sense where we all come up short. In fact that’s exactly what the Bible says in Romans 3:23:
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
All the saints that we celebrate today are not saints because they were somehow cut from different spiritual cloth than everyone else. Somehow we get the idea that they were some sort of spiritual super heroes, as their feet didn’t quite touch the ground, as if they walked on water. But you and I know that there is only one who walked on water. Everyone else loses heart and sinks like a rock. Everyone loses strength. Everyone runs out of energy. Everyone runs short in the end.
You know how this works. Somewhere in your heart, you have a love for Jesus. You believe in God. You look forward to his return. You want to be a part of the big heavenly celebration. Then you go about your week. Responsibilities weigh on you. You’ve got customers to serve, patients to treat. You’ve got kids to feed and cart around, and parents to keep an eye on. You’re losing your hair and your shape. You can’t remember the last time you didn’t feel overwhelmed. Pretty soon, the weight of the world begins to press in upon you. Yes, of course, you love Jesus. Yes, of course, you look forward. But right now, you are lucky just to get though another day without freaking-out.
All the pressures and burdens of life take a toll on our spiritual energy. Often times we simply run on empty, in a constant energy crisis. That’s where the five knuckleheads in today’s story are. They have an energy crisis. They are out of oil for their torches or lamps. At some point, everyone runs out.
Three.
Expect lots of company. Most, scratch that . . . all of us in the church are knuckleheaded. That means that we have a lot of company. It is not true that some of us get it and are ready and others are not. There is some sense where each and every one of us started in our faith or in our church excited and enthusiastic but failed to realize what we were really getting into and what we needed to make it to the end. No one here is any better than the other. No one here is on another level spiritually. In Psalm 49:10, the Bible says,
“Anyone can see that even the wise die, as well as the foolish and stupid.”
Which leads us to our next point . . .
Four
Expect your light to go out. There are few things in life that are certain, but one of them is death. It is before all of us. It is inescapable. You can’t cheat it. You can’t outsmart it. I’ve stood at the bedside and the graveside of more people than I can count and it is one appointment waiting for us all.
Expect a celebration that lasts forever.
That’s why I can tell you today as we remember those who have gone before us, as we remember the saints of old . . . Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Peter, Paul, Aquinas, Theresa of Avila, Francis. We could add Luther and Calvin. As we remember the saints of our lives, those who have passed on to the church triumphant this past year, Helen, Bob, Francie, Chester, Dave, Bill, we remember that even though the light went out on their lives, even though the darkness moved in upon them, there is one light left. There is one light that no darkness can overcome. This is the Groom. The Groom provides his own light. The Bible says in John 1:2-5:
He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
When your light goes out and darkness covers over you, you will see exactly what the saints of old saw. You will see what the saints of this past year saw. You will see the light of Jesus Christ, who comes to you in your darkness to light the way. He will not leave you nor forsake you. He will not abandon you to the darkness. He will come to you. He will take your hand. And he will escort you to the feast, resplendent and radiant as a newly adorned bride.
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