Matthew 25:1-13 Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, 'Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' 9 But the wise answered, saying, 'Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' 12 But he answered, 'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.' 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
1 Why are you here? Why come to church? To see friends? To make friends? To blend in? To stand out? No, certainly something more pious. To pay tithes? To check it off your to-do list? To fulfill some sort of obligation? To praise and give thanks? To earn forgiveness? None of those answers will do. You are not here for God; He is here for you. You are here because you need oil. He is here to give oil; He is also here because you need oil.
2 Ten virgin bridesmaids: five wise and five foolish. So what makes the virgins foolish? Their foolishness is not their lack of cleverness. They were devilishly clever. They had it all figured out. They were there with the other five virgins. They brought lamps. They came beautifully dressed, their beauty to highlight the beauty of the bride. They brought lamps with a carefully calculated amount of oil. But none of the virgins—neither the foolish nor the wise—counted on the delay of the Bridegroom. Wisdom and foolishness are only revealed at the end. Until the end, the wise and foolish both looked the same. But the lamps of the foolish flickered out, having run out of oil. Left in the darkness of unbelief, the foolish are locked outside the banquet. Their mistake was to presume they could time the day of the Lord’s return.
3 What makes the virgins foolish? From outward appearances, they were wiser than the other five virgins. They had carefully calculated the amount of oil required. They asked questions like “How much is enough?” “What is the bare minimum to get by?” and “What may we do and still remain Christians?” Those are not the questions of faith. Faith never says “enough.” God gives, and faith receives. Faith does not say no. You are here because you need oil.
4 Only 50% of the virgins were wise with faith. That means 50% were damned, locked out. Half of the congregation of virgin bridesmaids will hear the words, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.” What’s the divide between the sheep and the goats? 50-50? How many in any Christian congregation will be among the elect? No mathematics. The elect will be saved. The question is not “who are the elect” but “how does God elect?” The answer: word and sacraments. God elects. He does so through means. Word preached, water applied, bread and wine eaten, a man to deliver forgiveness.
5 There is no place for mathematics in the church. How many times must I forgive? Seven times? Seventy times seven, or, until your calculator is broken. “I knew you were a harsh master, so I kept your talent tucked away” is replied to with “you wicked and slothful servant; take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten.” How often must I eat the Body of my Lord? Four times a year? Once a month? Every other week? Once a week? Every day? Faith never says “enough.” Faith says yes, not “if I have to.”
6 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Christian end-times predictions are as unreliable as Hollywood blockbusters and Mayan calendars; no one knows the year, the day, or the hour. Watch. Until that day, you need oil. You cannot borrow another’s oil. You must have your own. The oil is the faith delivered by the Holy Spirit. Faith is not inherited, not passed genetically from parents to children. You must be born again, born of water and the Spirit. Faith cannot be caught like a virus, only received as a gift. Once received, faith continues to receive. Faith says “yes.”
7 If you have been carefully calculating, hoping to balance the unbelief of rejecting the Lord’s gifts with the faith once delivered, the faith which receives and never rejects, repent. If you have been counting on borrowing oil from another, repent. If you have been putting off going to the oil merchants for a day less busy, for an oil merchant less putting off, for a more convenient hour, for a time later in life, repent. If you were counting yourself among the wise merely because you have a lamp, because outwardly you look just like them, because at one time you had some oil, repent. Do not be among those to whom Jesus will say, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.” If you are not able to be given to, you have no faith. Faith receives. Says yes.
8 The banquet has been paid in full. The Bridegroom paid for it with His life. No expense was spared; everyone included in the invitation. Not with gold or silver but with His holy precious blood, the Bridegroom paid in full. Before He came to collect the bridesmaids on His way to greet His bride at the wedding and banquet, He came to pay for their entry. Jesus who will return came once. He came for both wise and foolish, to pay for their sins, to bear their foolishness, to deliver the wisdom of faith.
9 The banquet is paid, the oil is free. Faith is given. Where the Word is preached, God the Holy Spirit is active to deliver His gift of faith. Where water is combined with Word, in the font of Holy Baptism, faith is delivered. Baptism now saves you. Where the Word is spoken over bread and wine, where wine and bread are received in faith, faith is strengthened and forgiveness is delivered through the real Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus. The oil is free and abundant. If you have enough, you have more than enough.
10 Why are you here? Because you have faith. Because faith says yes. Because here is oil. Because here the gifts are abundant and free. Because God is here to deliver His gifts. You come not out of obligation but out of a desire to receive God’s gifts. That desire, to receive God’s gifts, is the highest worship. If the Bridegroom delays long enough, you will fall asleep in death. But He will return. At that day, the Great Awakening, the wise will be welcomed to the eternal Banquet. You may be confident in your quantity of oil because you are here, where the oil is abundant. Faith is sustained the same way it is delivered, by the Lord.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria
Pastor Jeff Hemmer
Hope, Jerseyville