Last Sunday of the Church Year – November 24th, 2024
Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas
Rev. Joshua Woelmer
Text: Matthew 25:1–13
“The Bridegroom Is Coming”
Theme: Weddings serve as a picture of creation—even the creation of the New Heavens and New Earth.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
We are all waiting for something. I think we all understand that there is a yearning in the human heart for something better. Now sometimes that can be for something in this life. There are, for example, 31 days until Christmas. Maybe some of you are eagerly waiting for all that Christmas brings—presents, food, merriment, and much more. Maybe some of you are eagerly waiting for a reunion with family members over Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe you are waiting for a change to make something of your life. Maybe you are waiting for relationships with friends or family to get better. Maybe you are waiting for healing. Maybe you are just waiting for all of this to be over and for Jesus to come back soon.
In a way, that’s what all of our waiting points toward. Even if you are waiting for physical things, we all know that they will not satisfy our longing for long. Toys will break, clothes will wear out, and everything will age. Friends will pass. Even if health gets better for a time, there will come a day when earthly life will cease. Some are readier for that than others.
But in the midst of what seems to be sadness and sin and death, there is a promise for something better on the other side. Problems may not be solved perfectly on this side of paradise, but they will be in paradise. Our Old Testament lesson depicts this in wonderful imagery. There will be no more death. Your work will not fade with time and decay. Your bodies will not age. There will be utter peace that we cannot here imagine, such as between carnivorous animals and prey animals. In paradise, we will not be waiting for something better.
The closest analogy that God gives us to experience this in this life is a wedding and marriage. This is not to say that all marriages in this life are perfect. Quite the opposite. I’m thankful for all of you who came out to the Marriage Enrichment Seminar. But, there is importance and weight to marriage, which is why we celebrate it so much and why we place great importance on it. Your spouse will become the most important person in your life. So, the preparation for marriage and a wedding is equally important.
We all know how much energy and attention a bride-to-be puts in her wedding. There are countless hours and decisions that go into that special day for her. After all those are made, she and the groom must wait for that day to arrive. The days seem to creep by as they await that union.
Jesus uses this sense of waiting in his parable of the ten virgins. It’s an interesting parable. You might expect the bride to be the centerpiece of it, as she waits for her groom to arrive. But it’s not. There are ten virgins, five who are wise who bring extra oil and five foolish who do not. The reason the bride does not show up in this parable is because there would be two pictures of the Church. The groom is Christ. The bride is the Church.
The waiting virgins are also pictures of the Church as individual believers. In this parable, they are not waiting for their own wedding, but to welcome the groom into the city for the greater marriage. They are you. You should be waiting with a fervent sense of hope for Christ’s second coming, whether you fall asleep in death first or not. Because that is what happens to all ten of these virgins. They fall asleep. Sleep is a Biblical word for death. You may fall asleep in Christ before he comes.
So when the virgins awake, do they have oil in their flasks? Five do, and five do not. There is no time to buy more. Even though the five foolish ones go to the oil merchants to buy more, they are too late by the time they get back. It is too late after you die to come to church and fill your flasks with oil.
What is the oil, anyways? Various scholars have given various answers, but one commentary that I respect says this: “The oil in the parable represents whatever it takes for you to be ready to honor the Bridegroom when he comes again in glory” (Gibbs, 1323). It may also change as you age and mature. Do you need to repent of your sin and turn away from it? Get that oil. Do you need to learn more of God’s word? Get that oil. Do you need to break the hold that greed has on your life and exercise generosity and good works? Get that oil. Do you despair of this world and need hope? There is oil to spare even now.
This last Sunday of the Church Year could serve as December 31st. Take stock of where you are spiritually and where you might like to grow. Know that Christ is a loving Savior and King who helps you in this. He sends his Holy Spirit to encourage you and fill you up with his oil.
The conclusion to this parable and to much of the Bible’s exhortations about the End Times is certainly appropriate: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (13). Watch like a bride is watching for the day of her wedding. She has made the preparations and only waits for the groom to come. Watch and wait for God’s working in your life. You may see it, and you may not. But do not give up watching and waiting. Do not think that God cannot untangle the mess of your life or that eternity with him is not going to be fun or worth it. It will be joyous beyond your greatest imaginings, for you will be with Christ, your groom, and he will lead you to the wedding feast that will never end.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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