Last Sunday of the Church Year 2009

LAST SUNDAY OF THE CHURCH YEAR

22 November Anno + Domini 2009

"Get Your Oil Now”

Matthew 25:1-13

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The midnight cry sounds forth right now:  "Here is the Bridegroom.  Come out to meet Him.”  It has been sounding forth ever since our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven with the promise to return.  His Bride, the Holy Christian Church, is to live in constant expectation and anticipation of the Day on which her Bridegroom will arrive and usher in the Great Wedding Banquet.  Everything is prepared for that Day.  The Bridegroom is ready.  All the festivities are planned.  Every detail of the Feast to come is in place.  But, is the Bride ready? 

Well, yes, of course, the Bride is ready, for the Bridegroom prepares His Bride for His Coming.  He does everything necessary to make sure His Bride is holy and blameless, pure and undefiled, ready to experience the consummation of the intimate union she already shares with her Bridegroom in part.  Yes, the Bride is ready. 

But, there are imposters among the Bride.  There are pretenders who claim to have fellowship with the Bridegroom, but don't.  They think they are ready, but they are not.  They are Christians in name only.  Their faith, once alive and active, has died.  The devil, the world, and their own sinful flesh has seduced them away from their first love.  They may pay occasional homage to the Bridegroom to come, but they lack true repentance and saving faith.  And the Bridegroom who once knew them no longer does. 

This is the warning Jesus sets before His Bride on the Last Sunday of the Church Year with the Parable of the Ten Virgins.  It is not a parable about believers and unbelievers, but about true believers and pretend believers.  It is a parable that illustrates the importance of having saving faith strengthened and preserved, lest it grow weak and dissipate into non-existence. 

The ten virgins in the parable represent all those who have been called by the Gospel and brought to saving faith.  All ten possess a lamp, which is the Word of God, as the Scripture teaches us:  "Your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105).  They know the Word.  They know Jesus, who is the Word Incarnate, or the Lamp Incarnate, the Light of the world.  But, knowing the Word - knowing Jesus - is not enough.  Possessing a lamp is useless unless you have oil to burn in the lamp, that it may give its light. 

Five of the virgins were wise and five were foolish.  All ten had lamps and all ten had oil in their lamps, but the five wise virgins had something the five foolish virgins didn't - extra oil to keep their lamps burning.  The five foolish virgins thought they had enough.  They are like those who think that because they have been baptized, heaven is a guarantee, and they need not continue to be washed clean in the Blood of the Lamb.  They are like those who think that because they have been confirmed in the Christian faith, heaven is a guarantee, and they need not continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ by hearing and learning His Word on a regular basis.  They are like those who say, "I don't need the Church.  I believe.  I'm a Christian.  I have my own personal relationship with Jesus and that's all I need.”  They are fools, for they fail to realize that the Church is where the oil is dispensed for their lamps, to keep the light of their faith burning bright until the Day of their Bridegroom's glorious return. 

The wise virgins know better.  They know that the oil they possess in their lamps today is not enough to see them through to the End.  They know that they need to continue receiving extra oil to fill their flasks, that they will always have oil on reserve to burn in their lamps.  They know they cannot make it on their own, that they cannot produce the oil they need for their lamps.  That's why they come to Church, to receive the oil they need to keep the light of their faith burning bright until the Day of their Bridegroom's glorious return.

The oil, my friends, makes all the difference.  So, what is the oil?  It is the blessed means of grace through which the Holy Spirit works to strengthen and preserve saving faith, the Holy Word and Sacraments.  It is first received at Holy Baptism, where the Holy Spirit anoints you with faith, washes you clean, and makes you a child of the Triune God.  But, it is continually dispensed through the preaching of Law and Gospel, the pronouncement of Holy Absolution, and the distribution of Christ's very Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist.  It is through these means that the saving work of Jesus Christ, who lived and died for you, and for the whole world, is applied to sinners; through these means, and these means alone, that sinners receive the forgiveness, life, and salvation secured for them by the Holy and Innocent Blood shed on their behalf by the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. 

And where is this oil dispensed?  In the Holy Christian Church established by the Bridegroom Himself.  That's why the five wise virgins cannot share their oil with the five foolish virgins who have none on reserve when the Bridegroom returns.  It is not theirs to share.  The oil has been given to them by the Holy Spirit through the merchants called and ordained by the Bridegroom.  They did not generate this oil on their own and what is in their flasks belongs exclusively to them.  All they can do is point the foolish virgins to the place where the oil is dispensed.  "Go to the dealers and buy for yourselves,” they say.  But, alas, it is too late for these foolish virgins.  For the final midnight cry has sounded and the Bridegroom has come.  There is nowhere left to purchase the oil needed for their lamps, for the dealers, and all who belong to the Holy Christian Church, have been gathered into the Wedding Feast.  And, by the way, do not be thrown off by the exhortation here to buy the oil, for the Scripture teaches us that this oil is bought at no cost, as Isaiah prophecies, "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Is. 55:1).

The message of our Lord to us in this parable is clear:  "Watch, therefore, for you neither know the day nor the hour.”  Now is the time to receive the extra oil you need to keep your lamps burning bright with saving faith, for the Day is coming when the oil will cease to be dispensed.  Now is the day of grace, the hour of salvation, the age when the oil flows freely in an unending supply within Christ's Church, but the day of grace will soon run out and all will stand before the Lord on the Day of Judgment.  Those with lit lamps will enter into the light of eternal Paradise in Christ's Kingdom, which has no end, but those with unlit lamps, or with no lamps at all, will enter into the darkness of eternal torment, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Those with lit lamps will be welcomed into the Great Wedding Feast, while those with unlit lamps will be shut out. 

So, get your oil now, dear friends, and don't stop getting it.  You need a constant supply to bring you to the Day of your Bridegroom's return securely, for the truth is that you are all cracked vessels.  So am I.  We are sinners always in need of a Savior.  In that way, we are no different than the foolish virgins.  That's why all ten virgins in the parable look the same.  They all fall asleep on the watch.  None of them keep the vigil perfectly.  The difference between them is not a matter of works, but of faith.  The five wise virgins realize their sinfulness, repent, and receive the forgiveness they need.  They know they can't make it on their own, so they place their trust in Jesus alone, and receive the oil He provides through His marvelous means of grace.  The five foolish virgins live as though they are fine all on their own, as if they do not need that which the Lord supplies. 

Heed the warning, then, my friends.  For our Lord is coming back.  Soon.  We know not when, which is why we are exhorted to be ready and stay alert.  It could be today; it could be tomorrow; it could be five, ten, a hundred, or even a thousand years from now.  He will come like a thief in the night at the appointed time.  Be ready.  Repent.  Receive the oil He distributes.  Believe.

You have fallen asleep.  So have I.  We all have.  You have been less than faithful.  So have I.  We all have.  You have gone after other gods or bridegrooms.  We all have.  But nonetheless, He loves you.  He forgives you.  He welcomes you and bids you come into the bridal chamber by the Grace of His own merit, to bask in His loving presence and feast upon the very Bread of life!  This is what we do, dear friends in Christ, while we wait.  We continuously heed His call to repentance and faith and receive the oil He abundantly supplies through His Holy Word and Sacraments.  It is the only way to stay awake, to fend off the cold boredom of a long watch, to remember what He has done for us, what He continues to do for us, and what He will do for us when He returns.  The oil will not fade nor will it ever be consumed fully this side of heaven.  Receive it now, dear friends, in true repentance and faith; receive it now and always, as wise virgins of the Bridegroom who is coming soon, and your lamps will be lit with saving faith when He does.  In His Holy and Precious Name.  Amen.

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting.  Amen.