Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. This means that the Son of God was with the Father from eternity, and that He will forever be for all eternity. He has no beginning and no end.
But Jesus has come into time and will return in time to bring time to its completion on the Last Day.
But that day has not yet come. We still live in time. And in this time we have, which, when all things are considered, is really not a lot of time, our Lord continues to come to us by Word and Sacrament.
But His coming to us by Word and Sacrament is only for this brief time. For on the Last Day the sacraments will end and the Word will be revealed in His fullness, He and all His angels with Him.
It’ll be quick. One moment everything in time – everything in our lives will be going on as it has always gone on, and then, in the next moment, in the twinkling of an eye, everything will change forever.
You just heard our Lord’s clear and pointed words, words which are often unwelcome or perhaps even unbelieved, that, as with Noah, people will be eating and drinking and marrying and giving into marriage, or perhaps as we might understand it today, people will be browsing the internet and buying things on amazon, mowing their lawns and just living their lives as they please…and suddenly it will all be over. Soon, is what our Lord says…soon. So be ready, Wake, awake! Pay attention.
The flood came, and even though the people had some 120 years to prepare as they watched Noah build the mighty ark, they just sort of shrugged their shoulders and went on with life. But when Noah and his family and the animals entered the ark and that great door was closed, that was it for the rest. God’s judgment prevailed against the evil and wickedness He saw on the earth.
Now, is our world that evil today? I don’t know. God knows, but we don’t really know. But we do know this world IS evil. Our churches are empty, the value of life is marginal, a fear and respect for God’s Commandments is nil. People have busied themselves with life, with distractions, with this, that, and the other, and fearing, loving, and trusting God above all things has become an “only when there’s time” affair. When the Lord returns, will He find ANY faithful on the earth?
Today, calls to be ready, to be awake, to pay attention go largely unnoticed, even among the church goers. And I think it’s probably because many of us do not know what it means TO be awake, be watchful, be ready.
One of the parables our VBS kids learned was the parable of the 10 virgins or bridesmaids. This parable teaches us what it is to be ready, to be awake and prepared.
First, we must know the weakness of the foolish maidens. What made them foolish? They did not preparedly await. They were bridesmaids. They were meant to go to the wedding feast and to serve in the great marriage of the bride and groom. They thought to themselves, “We’re bridesmaids; we’re in, no need to do any special preparation.”
They were foolish. They thought themselves very wise but were very foolish. Foolishness thinks so little of eternity and focuses entirely on today, on the new, foolishness in the moment. It seeks out the desires and needs of the flesh which is to decrease or eliminate suffering and increase pleasure to the full.
If you consider the world and the people of the world, what do they do at every moment? They spend their days intent on decreasing suffering and maximizing pleasure. What’s the most fun? What’s the most entertaining? What’s the most stimulating to the flesh? And it’s all the more foolish when those who, by baptism and upbringing, were raised in the church, fall headlong into a life of pleasure and the desires of the flesh.
They, like the unprepared maidens, have let their lamps go out. They forego church and worship, they spurn regular reading of the Scripture, they find no place in their busy lives for the Lord’s Supper, for prayer, for learning and growing in the faith. They’d rather seek a life of pleasure and selfish want than a life of faith, or they think they can have it both ways, like those foolish virgins.
The bridegroom is coming, yet they stand without oil in their lamps to see. They have a dwindling faith, a doubtfulness of the bridegroom’s words and promises, and when the bridegroom enters the wedding hall, and that door closes, there’s no back door or exemptions for the foolish.
Be ready, stand prepared, wake up, O sleeper.
The bridegroom does not lie. He is coming and His arrival is soon. In the time you have, do not lose hope as you await that day. The bridesmaids who were wise, like the foolish ones, were sinners. They weren’t somehow more holy or more loved by the bridegroom. But they were ready. They were ready because they trusted in the words of the bridegroom; they trusted in and abided in the words of Jesus, that when He comes, they will enter in and take part in the great wedding feast of the lamb and His church.
It’s not a matter of proving to our Lord that we’re really deserving of His invitation by doing a bunch of good works or wrapping ourselves in piety and outward acts or presenting ourselves as “spiritual” or “really into it.” It’s about simple faith. Jesus forgives us our sins; Jesus cleanses us and makes us alive; Jesus opens paradise to us. Undeserving, but freely given and freely received nonetheless. This is being ready and prepared. And as we stand awake and waiting, we learn to live by the Spirit of the same Christ, to fear and love God and to love and serve the neighbor.
We learn that being ready means being different than those foolish virgins with no oil for their lamps. We learn to cherish and love and desire to be with our Lord where He promises to be, here before Word and Sacrament, so that the pleasures and passions of life don’t consume our time such that we have no time for Him. We learn to use the gifts He so abundantly provides, gifts of our time, gifts of abilities and the wisdom of the kingdom, and gifts of money and possessions, not for ourselves and for our own pleasures and hording passions, but for the good of others, to help others, to support the church, and to grow the kingdom.
And the more we stand ready, standing on the solid foundation of Christ and His cross, the more we learn just how fleeting and empty it is to pursue the things of the world without the Lord. God is not a light switch that we can just shut off when we have other things to do, and then flip back on when we need Him. He is our Savior and as the hymn says, we need Him every hour, ever moment.
There is nothing wrong with eating and drinking and marrying and giving into marriage, with raising a family or any of that, but when these things draw our attention away from Christ’s promises and His coming, then the oil in our lamps begins to run out, the wicks aren’t trimmed, and we are waywardly darkening our vision and will miss Him.
I told the Confirmands a few weeks ago to “slow down,” to “be still,” and I say the same to you adults. Slow down, be still. You have been set free from this world, from sin, death, and the devil. Don’t busy yourselves with running in 16 directions at once, doing this, doing that, having to do this, run there, take part in that…and then find yourself unready when the Lord returns because you were too busy with the world and forgot about Him. Slow down. Take a step back as individuals, and as families, and judge for yourselves what you hold most important in your lives and with how you spend your time. And what can you change in your life, in your schedule, in your day to day activities to make sure you’re standing ready, that you’re in church on Sundays, that your kids are in church on Sundays, that they see the value and the importance of a lifestyle and a life lived in readiness, live by the Spirit of Christ, lived relying every day on His grace and forgiveness? What is truly important in your life and how are you reflecting that to your children?
Dear children of God, do not forget that you are of Christ, beloved, forgiven and free. Your baptisms are God’s seal upon you. Therefore, do not seek to gorge and give your attentions to the world and its dark embrace, but instead come and feast with Jesus who is the greatest servant and provider and whose eating and drinking will lead only to life and salvation. Amen.
