Trinity 27

Matthew 25:1-13 – Trinity Twenty-Seven – November 20, 2016
Ten Virgins  ♫♫♫

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Five virgins went to heaven.  Five virgins went to hell.  All ten washed their sins away and received eternal life in the water of Holy Baptism that clothed them in Christ and made them pure.  All ten heard and learned the promises of the gospel, and in our day would have been confirmed.  All ten belonged to a good and respectable church.  All ten knew how a Christian should behave and look.  But only five of them believed the gospel.  The other five did not.  Those who believed the gospel went into the eternal wedding feast.  Those who did not believe were sent away forever. 

Last week, with the parable of the sheep and the goats, we learned how God distinguishes those who believe from those who don’t believe by how they treated and served Christ’s Christians here on earth.  Those who did not show love to Christ’s brothers did not show love to Christ.  This pertains to the second table of the law: “love your neighbor as yourself.”  Of all neighbors most worthy of our service, and of the greatest concern to our Lord, it is those who are of the household of faith – those who worship with us, confess with us, preach to us, correct us when no one else will, and care for our souls by the commission and command of our Savior.  It is those who receive with us the forgiveness of sins – our brothers and sisters in Christ.  God distinguishes his sheep from the goats by what they do and leave undone towards the least of his brothers.

This week, with the parable of the ten virgins, we learn how God distinguishes those who believe from those who don’t believe in another way: by how they treated the word of God here on earth.  Those who did not gladly hear and learn it did not love Christ.  This pertains to the first table of the law: “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). 

Trinity 27

Matthew 25:1-13- Trinity 27- November 20, 2011 

  While We Wait, We Watch with Joy

The marriage of a man and a woman is a common image in the Bible for the relationship between Christ and the Church.  St. Paul writes in his letter to the Ephesians, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, [that’s Baptism] that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”  The Church is not beautiful on her own.  Christ makes His bride so beautiful by forgiving her her sins. 

When a husband and wife are married, they become one flesh.  So also we, who by faith are members of the Church, are also members of Christ Himself.  By loving us, Jesus teaches us what true marriage is.  This one-flesh relationship between the Church and her Lord is a mystery that we will not fully understand until the Day when Christ returns.  Then He will welcome all believers – both those who have died, and those who will yet be living – into the heavenly banquet hall to celebrate the wedding feast of the Lamb that has no end.  Christ is returning for His Church.  It is His love for His holy bride that compels Him.  The parable that we just heard about the Ten Virgins describes this future event. 

Trinity 27

Matthew 25:1-13 - Trinity 27 - November 23, 2014
The Fullness of Heavenly Wisdom is Mine

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. 

Wisdom’s highest, noblest treasure,
Jesus, lies concealed in You.
Let me find in You my pleasure,
And my wayward will subdue,
Humility there and simplicity reigning,
In paths of true wisdom my steps ever training.
If I learn from Jesus this knowledge divine,
The fullness of heavenly wisdom is mine.[i]  Amen. 

This morning I’d like to talk about wisdom, what it is, and how we get it.  We consider the parable of the ten virgins.  There are five foolish, and five wise.  Foolishness is a terrible thing.  To be foolish is to be self-destructive and willingly ignorant of what is good for you.  It is to be stubbornly unconcerned with true righteousness.  The word in Greek is μωρός, where we get the word moron.  A spiritual moron is one who does not take the word of God to heart. 

Wisdom, on the other hand, is a beautiful thing.  The Greek word for wisdom is σοφία.  To have σοφία is to have full knowledge of what is eternally true.  It is to love what is righteous and to completely delight in what is good.  To have wisdom is to know Christ and his saving grace.  Wisdom is a gift from God because faith is a gift from God.  When our youngest daughter was born, Monica and I had this very truth in mind when we settled on her name.  Sophia Dorothy translates straight from the Greek: Wisdom is God’s Gift.  And so it is. 

Trinity 27

Matthew 25:1-13 - Trinity XXVII - November 25, 2012
Faith’s Anticipation

Anticipation is half the pleasure.  There’s something true about this.  When you’re looking forward to something, not only do you feel like each day is filled with that much more meaning, but also in those moments of waiting you have the opportunity to ponder and reflect upon whatever it is you’re waiting for.  And that’s nice.  It kind of keeps you energized in a way.  But you know that with whatever pleasure that you’re looking forward to, nine times out of ten you end up spending more time looking forward to it than you do actually enjoying it.  It’s funny how that works. 
Just think of thanksgiving guests coming and leaving … and now they are leaving again.    

But this isn’t how it works when it comes to eternal life.  It’s eternal, after all.  It lasts forever.  No amount of waiting will outlast or match what God has prepared for us there.  We wait for heaven by waiting on God who gives us heaven.  We wait on God by listening to His word that saves us.  We hear and believe the promises that He makes to us in Christ, and, although we can neither see nor feel any evidence that He will deliver on His promises, we wait, because God’s word is true.  His reliability is not determined by what we are able to see or feel.  No, but God swears by Himself that all who wait on Him shall not be put to shame.  And so, in Jesus’ name we pray with the Psalmist:

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation.
For you I wait all the day long (Psalm 25:4-5).

In other words, we pray that God teach us the Gospel.  That’s how we wait.  That’s what it means to wait – that’s what it’s always meant.  To wait is to believe the Gospel.