Episode 45: 6-05-09

Readings:

Psalm 141
Isaiah 66:1-6
2 Timothy 4:1-8
Luke 12:32-48

Sermon:

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Matthew 25:1-13

Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

Waiting…

Longing and waiting…

In the earliest days of the church the difficulty wasn’t the martyrdom, it wasn’t the suffering that could be inflicted by men or by the forces of this world. For these things too should pass. Though, as the stones hit against St. Stephen, there was little doubt that pain gripped his body; though, as the wooden nails ran through the hands and the feet of St. Peter and St. Phillip, there was little doubt that pain shot through every inch of their flesh; though, as the bare steel of the sword ran through St. Paul’s body, he could feel the life drain from his body; it wasn’t death that they feared. “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21).

On that day of their death, though the work they could have done amidst the world for the glory and the sanctification of the Lord in praise for His great mercy and love, as they spread the gospel message of Christ Jesus, was done, they would be once more in the presence of the Lord, amidst the Saints and the Apostles, the Prophets and the Disciples that went before them. On that day they would join the Savior standing before the throne of God in Paradise.

No, the true difficulty laid in the waiting and the longing for that day of Christ’s glorious return.

Throughout the Epistles we hear of it. In Thessalonica Paul looks to the church there and to the believers, hearing the stories of those amidst that community who refused to work, believing that second coming would happen any day. They would live off the compassion and the generosity of others, believing there was little point because it would all amount to nothing when the Savior did come once more upon them.

To these men the Apostles admonition would be stern, “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

In the Parable of the Ten Virgins we see though not an Apostle or a Disciple speaking of the second coming, but Christ himself, as he teaches us of how we must prepare for it. Here you have the story of ten who are waiting for the coming of the bridegroom. Five wise prepared their lamps that they might remain lit for his coming, five foolish did not. Here they expected that the coming would be soon or that they could just live off the generosity of others without, even in the least of ways, preparing themselves.

But that return of the Bridegroom to his Bride would not come soon or when they had expected, and it would not be long before their light would be extinguished, with nothing left to light it once more. There, they sought desperately to find more oil to light once more their lamps and return before the coming of the Bridegroom, but by the time they had found themselves at the gates prepared now for his return, the time had passed and the gates had been locked.

As is so often the case, the story we are taught by the Savior holds significant meaning for each of us.... for each of us in our lives and our everyday lives.

We are to be those virgins, waiting for the return of the Bridegroom, Christ Jesus, that he may sanctify once again his Holy Union with his bride, the Church Triumphant and Universal. The lamp that we have lit is the light of the Lord, the Holy Spirit of our God, shining forth the path of righteousness for the Bridegroom.

As much as we long and wait for the return of the Bridegroom we cannot, we must not grow complacent or be unprepared for the return, assuming that it will come at any day now and there is no reason to labor or to be ready for it in a shallow belief that there is nothing we can do to prepare for it. We are to abide in the love of God and the works of the Spirit that we may do all things that are commanded of us for our lives for the harvest of souls that is to come, laboring to prepare not just ourselves for the return of the Lord but our fellow man as well that all may come to know the salvation of Christ that they may be deemed righteous through the power of his sacrifice. We must do the works we are called to do by the power of the Holy Spirit that our lamp may remain lit, lighting the way down the road of redemption calling all people to blessed marriage of Christ to his Church.

None shall know the time of his return, none shall know the day or the hour of it, none shall be able to tell when it is going to be for sure, so thus we must be ever vigilant, ever prepared for the coming regardless of anything else in the world or the longing that we have in our soul that it may come soon.

It is then that we know that we shall be standing present for the return of the bridegroom, remaining within his presence according to his love and we shall see the glorious day of that second coming. It will be then that all of the waiting and the longing shall make sense and we shall find the peace and the comfort of the Lord swell within us, granting us an abiding sense of joy that can only come from being once more returned to the presence of our Heavenly Father.

Lord, grant this unto us all.

Now may the peace of the Lord, that peace that transcends all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus even unto life everlasting, Amen.