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Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear fellow virgins of the bridegroom, the text for this morning is about the ten virgins, the parable that Jesus spoke to talk about his return with glory. You may be seated.
We have something in common with all the rest of the world that is common, in fact, to all mankind— and that thing that is common to all mankind, which we have in common with the rest of the world, is waiting. We all must wait. We wait to learn the manual dexterity and the muscle memory to tie our shoes for the very first time. We have to wait to read words on a page and speak them. We have to wait until we are old enough to vote at the age of 18. We have to wait until we’re 21 to purchase and consume in public alcohol. We have to wait to find the right person to marry. Then we have to wait to have children for the first time. Then we have to wait for those children to leave again so that we can have our spouse alone. We have to wait to have grandchildren, don’t we? We have to wait for retirement. We have to wait for death, all of us.
Whether death is slow and lingering, or whether death is sudden and unexpected, everyone in this world, whether foolish or wise virgins, waits for the terrible things to end, and we all must wait for the beautiful things to begin again. And the thing that is waiting, all of this waiting is dependent upon just one thing. All of this waiting has one thing in common, and that is a future. But what kind of future is that? How is your future as an oil-laden virgin bride? What is the future for you as one who has been baptized, as one who has heard the word laid upon your ears? What is your future as one who has ate and drank the very bridegroom himself with whom you join every time you commune?
And if that is your future that is markedly different than the rest of the world, how do the foolish virgins see their future? Do they see their future different than yours? Not nearly as important is it that you see your future different than theirs. And in the meantime, does your future, that which awaits you, has any bearing on your present and how you live today? How you view things, what you say, upon what you lay your hopes and dreams and aspirations for the present. And then as you live out your present with that future that awaits you, what is it you’re confessing about your faith and about that future as you live it out in your present?
The virgins are all waiting for the impending nuptials with the bridegroom. However, only five are wise and only five are foolish. The five that are wise wait with plentiful oil of fruitful faith because the text says they took oil with them. They knew not how long they would be waiting for the bridegroom, but they knew by faith, which is that oil, in God’s promise that they will be ready. And the five foolish, shallow oil. The text says, They took no oil with them, for they did not see any need to be prepared. They did not see any future for them of any substance, value, or certainty, even though they waited, just like the wise.
What Jesus is describing here in this parable is a lot like some of the other parables that Jesus has already spoken. That the five foolish, the five wise, are all together in the same place waiting is exactly like the parable of the weeds and the wheat. The weeds growing up with the wheat. And Jesus, the master of the harvest, says, wait until harvest. Then cut the foolish out, the weeds, and throw them away and bundle up the wise and bring them into the harvest bin. That’s like the foolish and the wise.
Another parable that Jesus spoke, which is about the foolish and the wise, is the parable of the seed and the sower. The foolish have faith for a time, but their soil is so shallow that they cannot bear up under the weather and the heat of the day, and their faith dies, for they are not prepared. They are not prepared. And the wise, though, are planted of good soil, where they produce a crop.
So then, how do the foolish view their future? No matter what you see with your eyes as you look at the rest of the world, who are not believers and are not wise, they will, by their actions and words, show you that they have this future. But inside, they know not the certainty that you do. Now, they struggle just like you, but you struggle as one who has hope, not as the rest of the world struggles who have no hope.
You see there being a very sure future, though you and I know we don’t always act like it, do we? The five wise virgins enter in with their bridegroom into the banquet hall for the feast. Notice in the text, they don’t go in by any presumption of their own. They don’t go in without the bridegroom. And they’re waiting at the door for the bridegroom. Once they come inside, the doors are shut. It is the foolish virgins who knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, let us in. Why do they presume to be able to go in when they have not any oil? Why?
Why do they presume to go in when they did not wait for the bridegroom? That is how the unbelieving world looks at their future. I’m supposed to have it. Entitlement. And where you and I look at the future, we know it’s all by God’s grace. We have nothing to claim. And in fact, we wait for that invitation at that door by our bridegroom that says, Come ye, beloved of my Father, and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundations of the world.
And so Jesus ends this parable with an exhortation for us as believers. Not for the foolish. Only for the wise is this exhortation given because the foolish will look at this exhortation and say, I’m already prepared. It is the wise as you who cry out Lord, have mercy and help me. And the exhortation is, watch, therefore, for you know not that hour or that day.
You have had laid upon your lips since you were young or since you began to worship with your fellow brothers and sisters in the faith, you have laid on your lips the prayer that our Lord taught you to pray. And in that prayer that he taught you to pray, you say, give us this day our daily bread. Which is a confession that says, I know not whether I have a tomorrow. I know I have an end and it awaits me and I know it’s glorious. Right? But I know not whether I have a tomorrow, but today I have. And today, Lord, give me what I need.
The foolish look upon and say, you’re being pessimistic. You’re not being optimistic enough. You’re being self-deprecating. You’re not being positive enough. Jesus calls that foolishness. And he calls the way you and I do view it as wise.
You ever left your dog in your house for a day or a couple days? There are two kinds of dogs, basically, that you leave, because when you come back from your trip or from your day trip, you will find either a wise dog or a foolish dog. The foolish dog will have clawed up the carpet and shredded everything because the foolish dog does not see a future. And frets and worries. Now the world may not show that side to themselves, but the world nevertheless is that dog.
And the wise dog lays down like the wise virgins and waits, knowing by faith the master will return when the master chooses to return. And until then, they are ready and living in hope. We wait with a different future ahead of us, dear brothers and dear sisters. And because we wait with a different future ahead of us, that has a great impact on our present, doesn’t it?
In fact, if you think about it, our future is not nearly as important as our present because we know not whether we will have a tomorrow. That’s why we pray, give us this day our daily bread. And you think about our goals, our expectations. You and I are constantly accosted by the world who says, join with us in being completely distracted unto death. Join with us as we flit and flight here and there so that we don’t think about the future.
And you and I have to confess, we have succumbed to such a temptation. We have forgotten the future that is sure for us, that profoundly affects our present. But that’s why you gather here, isn’t it? Because Sunday in and Sunday out, you are fed this future, that you may live your present with confidence. You are reminded by the word proclaimed of your future that you may live your present with boldness.
Because when we walk out of here and live out our present, which may be all we get today, for today the Lord may say, It is time, dear brother, or it is time, dear sister, enter into the kingdom prepared for you. Or we may have to linger for months or even years with health issues. Either way, today is the day he has given us. And by God’s grace, we live today with confidence in that future.
Jesus himself said, don’t be anxious about tomorrow. Tomorrow will be anxious about itself, sufficient for the day as the troubles of the day. Isn’t that the truth? And yet where does the world and Satan wish us to focus and fixate upon but the uncertainty of the future that we may be that kind of dog that flits about doing a lot of things but nothing that is beneficial for the present?
Or do you remember Paul when he was talking about the resurrection in the 15th chapter of his first epistle to the Corinthians said, If only for this world we have faith, we are to be pitied among all men. Because our faith isn’t about this world. It’s about the impending future that you, as an oil-laden virgin, knows to be true.
Every time you come to church, look at that baptismal font. Because in that baptism font is your baptism, whether it was at that font or somewhere else, where you are continually reminded Sunday in and Sunday out, Wednesday in and Wednesday out, that you were baptized into Christ’s death and into his resurrection, which is a future that’s sure and impending for you, a wise virgin.
Every time you gather to hear the word proclaimed to you, you will hear, The future that is bright and that is sure for you. Yes, there is fear and anxiousness in us because we are constantly struggling with this flesh. But what we beat that flesh down with is these things that God uses to feed your faith and to snuff out your doubt and anxiousness.
Finally, think about what we proclaim as we celebrate this gift to us. Jesus said… As oft as you drink and eat this, you proclaim my death until I come. Everything about our worship, everything about our gathering, everything about your life in Christ from the moment of your baptism to the moment of your death is constantly fixated to the future of your certain hope for no other purpose than to live out your present now in that confidence. Therefore, as Paul said… Encourage one another with these words.
In the name of Jesus, amen. The peace of God which passes all understanding. Keep your hearts and your minds on Christ Jesus to life everlasting. Amen.
