Midnight Coming
Matthew 25:1-13 ESV
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins
who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of
them were foolish, and five were wise. For 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, they all became drowsy and slept. But at
midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all
those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the
foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going
out.’ But the wise answered,
saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the
dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while
they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went
in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward
the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he
answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch
therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Be ready. Be prepared. Be alert. Be ready to welcome Jesus. When? Where?
How?
Be ready now. Jesus may come to you at any moment. Jesus may come to this
world also at any instant. Jesus may come to you personally where ever and
whenever you least expect. Jesus comes in Word and Sacrament to all people. Jesus
has come and will come. Jesus comes in the past, in the present and in the
future. How?
When I ponder on the Lord’s Prayer we pray “Thy Kingdom Come…”
How does God’s Kingdom come? To paraphrase Luther’s explanation to this second
petition of the Lord’s Prayer. God comes to us when he gives us his Holy Spirit.
How? When? It’s free. We don’t have to do anything to receive God’s Holy
Spirit. God gives us his Spirit in the waters of baptism, and we can’t do a
single thing to receive the Holy Spirit. Nope! Nothing! God’s Spirit is free
and leads us to faith through Word and Sacrament. And then we believe. We can’t
help ourselves if we pay a little attention. Sure, we can turn away from this
free gift. God will let us turn away. But… God wants us to turn to him and accept
his Spirit and live our lives for, and in, him. We won’t be perfect. We will
sin while on this earth, but God still claims us, teaches us and leads and
guides us to be with him in eternal life.
So, be ready to welcome Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit. Keep
your mind on Jesus and be ready when he comes.
So, many Christians today, make the coming of Jesus seem like it will be
a horrible event. No! Jesus coming is not horrible. God came down to this earth
to come into communion with his children. Throughout time, humanity has had an
issue with God. We don’t want God. We want ourselves. We want control over our
lives and have believed that we can control our lives through our own efforts. So,
how has that worked out? We fail. We turn from God and come up with phony idols
and screwy beliefs that we think we can control. And then we come to fear the
coming of Jesus. We fear his coming to us personally… we will lose our own
power and control. And we fear Jesus coming at the end of the ages, because we
will be caught wrapped up in ourselves. So, why do Christians today seem to
think Jesus coming will be a horrible event? They fear that they won’t be the “In”
ones with Jesus. They know they have sinned and are due death and hell.
Well, that’s true! But Jesus doesn’t come for all that death and hell
part. We DO deserve death and hell… at least because of our sinfulness. But
Jesus comes not because we are sinners. Jesus knows we sin. He comes to save us
from our pitiful plight of sin, death and hell. Jesus comes to become our sin
and give us his righteousness.
So, be prepared… not for the worst… but for the best! Our Father only
wants the best for us.
All this is just the introduction to this Gospel Word. This is Jesus
Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids.
Notice that there are Five Wise and Five Foolish Bridesmaids. This
applies to all of us as well. Think of the Five Wise as those who are believers
in Jesus and the Five Foolish as those who have chosen to not believe in Jesus
but ride the fence, so to speak.
The oil could be thought of as the Holy Spirit, or perhaps the gift of
faith from God that produces belief in Jesus. Five received the Holy Spirit and
five turned away from this gift from God and left it behind in life.
Now let’s consider the Wedding party. Not the folks in the wedding,
rather the party itself, the celebration. In Jesus day, the Wedding Celebration
was one of the greatest festivities of the day. Everything came to a stop for
this feast. The high point of the feast was when the bridegroom took the bride
from her father’s house and brought the bride to her new home. And then… the party
was on! Whoopee!!!
Notice, in this parable, the bridegroom
comes at midnight. That’s kind of like how Jesus comes to us. Jesus comes at
the darkest hour many times. At the hour when we deserve nothing but death and
hell. Jesus comes to us when all human effort is gone.
But, in the case of this parable and
in the case of Baptism, Communion, or in the Word; there is joy at midnight. I
can’t help but think of the coming of Jesus into this world when he was born in
the flesh to Mary and Joseph, and to me and you and all creation.
May I be more than just ready to die
this day. For daily I need to die in the waters of my baptism to my sinful self.
I must die that I may rise again, out of the life-giving water to new life.
Gifted with the Holy Spirit each and every day. Die to sin and rise in the joy
of life, once again in Christ forever. Oh, the Joy of my baptism. Oh, the Joy
of Jesus coming to me in the Bread and the Wine. Jesus in flesh and blood with
me. The Joy of hearing Jesus in the Word spoken and lived. The Joy of that Oil
of the Holy Spirit bringing all that I need for Life with God. The Joy of the
call to action in God in love for God and in love to all those God gives to me,
day after day, and moment by moment.
This Joy, this Grace, produces a
response. A response that when we accept the gift of God in the Holy Spirit,
the oil of my own lamp and your own lamp to produce the Light of God that
welcomes us into the festival at the great coming of Jesus in the end of all
time, that we can all believe in, trust in and know about.
You can’t share or borrow belief in
God’s grace. It’s a gift to you personally. But what we can do? Filled with the
Holy Spirit and marked on our forehead with the oil of the cross of Christ
forever… I can… You can… tell of God’s grace and love to all and believe in the
Joy of that Midnight Festival that will come… today… tomorrow… and forever…. Into
eternity with God!
Let justice and righteousness flow! God
is great! And we will be with Jesus forever! Come, Lord, Jesus come. --- Amen
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