Calvary Lutheran Church

Be Ready When the Lights Go Out

Grace and peace to you from him who is, who was, and who is to come! Christ Jesus our blessed Lord and Savior. Amen.

Matthew 25:1-13

Dear Christian friends:

            When my family and I lived in Antigua in the West Indies, it was quite common in this third world country for the electricity on the island to be cut off. Usually it happened in the early evening after dark, just when you needed it the most. And when it did happened, it immediately became obvious that there were two types of households on that island—those who were prepared for such an occurrence and those who were not.

            The first type was represented by our neighbors right across the street from us. Within 15 seconds after the electricity went off that house was once again totally lit up. They obviously had a large hurricane lantern hanging in their living room or some convenient location. It must have always been filled with oil or kerosene, and the matches must have been right there, so all they had to do was walk to the lantern, strike a match, light the lamp, and from then on everything went on pretty much as usual. That was the first type.

            The second type, those who were not prepared, was best represented by our household. When the electricity went off the first thought that came to mind was, “Now what!” Usually the first five minutes were spent just sitting in the dark, hoping that the lights would come back on. When it became obvious that was not going to happen, then the grand search for the flashlight began. Normally the flashlight was located in the hall closet, but there was no guarantee of that. It could have been out in the car or somewhere else.

            After all hope in the flashlight was abandoned, the task then became to feel one’s way to the kitchen to get a match to light a candle. Now in our house the box of matches was located in the kitchen cupboard right next to the box of toothpicks which are about the same size. And invariably one would first grab the box of toothpicks. Have you ever tried to light a tooth pick? Believe me, it doesn’t work!

            Well, by the time the matches were finally found and lit; by the time our only two small candles were located, and one of them was found to have the wick broken off, 15-minutes had expired and either the electricity had come back on or we were sitting huddled around our one small candle and wondering why we were not better prepared for this type of emergency, especially when we knew it was coming. You see, preparedness is often not considered important until an emergency arises, but then it becomes the most important factor of all.

            We are in the end-time of the church year. And if there is one message that comes through loud and clear it is this:

BE READY WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT!

I’m not talking about when the electricity is cut off, that is insignificant by comparison. I’m talking about when life as we know it is cut off. That will be either when we die or when Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead. That is when preparedness will be the most important factor of all. So let’s see what Jesus says in this parable about being ready.

            “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise” (Matthew 25:1,2). We know that the Jewish wedding celebrations in Jesus’ day lasted several days, and it all began on a certain evening when the groom, accompanied by his friends, walked in a festive procession from his own house to the home of the bride to bring her and her wedding party back to the groom’s home. You could probably call this the “home-bringing” part of the celebration.

            This was always a happy, fun-filled part of the celebration. And other friends of the bride, especially those not yet married, oftentimes wanted to be part of it as well. So what many of them did, in this case ten virgins, was to camp out along the route they knew the bridegroom would travel. They would wait there with their lamps ready to go out to meet the bridegroom and join in the procession.

            As the parable goes on, however, the bridegroom was late, and not just a couple minutes but several hours late. Well, this was not unusual, and so the ten virgins who were waiting took this in stride and saw it as an opportunity to catch a quick nap. They turned down their lamps to save on oil and fell asleep. But finally at midnight the cry was heard, “Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!”

            Quickly the ten virgins all got up, and the first thing they wanted to do was turn up their lanterns to full strength, after all, it was dark out there, a person could get hurt if she could not see where she was going. But now, for the first time, we find out that five of these virgins were wise and five were foolish. Five had brought extra oil for their lamps just in case of a delay, but five had not. They had not planned on such a long wait. Their lamps were already going out, so they knew they would never make it to the bridegroom’s house.

            The first thought that came to mind was to ask the first five if they could borrow from them. Well, that wouldn’t work. They knew they had just enough for themselves. So the only solution was for the five foolish virgins to find a store at that late hour, try somehow to wake up the proprietor, and buy the oil they should have brought along in the first place. So that is what they did. But all of that took time. And by the time they got back, the bridegroom had gotten his bride, the whole procession made it back to the bridegroom’s house, the festivities had begun, and the door was shut.

            “No problem,” they thought. They would just go to the bridegroom’s house, knock at the door and shout, “Sir, Sir, open the door for us!” But something very unexpected happened. The bridegroom himself answered the door and said to them, “Who are you? I don’t know you,” and he shut the door. I say that this is unexpected, for certainly the bridegroom would have recognized them as friends of his bride and would have let them in. But that’s not what

happened in this story. And the reason is that this is not just a story, it’s a parable, and a parable has a hidden, heavenly meaning.

            The meaning is this: the bridegroom represents Jesus Christ. The bride is his church. The ten virgins represent members of his visible church. The meeting of the bridegroom represents judgment day and the house with the closed door represents heaven. But here is the critical question—who are the wise virgins and who are the foolish virgins?”

            That is not an easy question to answer, because in the parable the two are very similar. Both are virgins. Both know the bridegroom and wish to meet him. Both have lamps. And when the bridegroom is late both are sleeping. It is only when the bridegroom comes that a difference between the two is revealed. But what a difference! For five are prepared, and five are not.

            What I have to say next is not meant to sound judgmental, it is only meant to sound a warning. Not all who appear to know the bridegroom will necessarily join him in his celebration. Not all who have the outward form of Christianity necessarily possess its reality. Not all who read the Bible, not all who attend or even belong to a church, not all who sing the hymns or make public confession of sins and profession of faith, not all who preach from a pulpit are going to share in the blessings of Christ’s return.

            Oh, they think they are. They think they can sleep in confidence even though the return of Christ seems to be delayed. And they think they can confidently march up to heaven’s door and claim entrance. But it is a false confidence. It is a shallow confidence. And the reason it is shallow is that they never had, or ran out of, oil—the oil is faith.

            So what is this faith that is so important for meeting the bridegroom? Faith comes from God. Saving faith is a free gift from God’s grace through baptism. It is first of all a knowledge of God and his Son, Jesus Christ, whom he sent as the Savior of the world. But it is not just knowledge, it is also acceptance. It is the willing acceptance of all that God graciously offers in that Son, like forgiveness, spiritual life, and eternal salvation. But it is not just knowledge, it is not just acceptance, it is also trust—a confident trust that he will fulfill his promises to one personally. That’s faith. Faith is not hard. It is so easy that a child can have it. Jesus took infants in his arms and described them as believing in him. But sometimes we make child-like faith hard. Some have knowledge, but no acceptance. They know about God, but they don’t believe a word of it. Sort of like Pilate who had the truth about God standing right in front of him, but then asked, “What is truth.” Some have knowledge and acceptance but no trust. Sort of like Judas who may have known Jesus as Savior, but not his Savior. His sin was too great. But all three must be present to some degree—knowledge, acceptance, trust—for saving faith to be present.

            And that is why not all who think they have faith, actually do, for a variety of reasons. Perhaps like the Pharisees they think they can save themselves. They didn’t realize the utter helplessness and hopelessness that their sin placed over them. They didn’t really believe that the wages of sin is death, or that anyone who keeps the whole law yet offends in just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. In other words, they didn’t see Jesus as their Savior, because in their own minds they don’t really need a Savior.

            Some may think they can enter heaven on the faith of others. “My parents were Christians.” Or, “My wife or husband always attend church and read the Bible.” And somehow they think that through them, they too will get to heaven. But you can’t borrow the oil of faith from another person’s lamp. When it comes to repentance, faith, and salvation, it is one-on-one between you and God alone.

            Or, some think they can put off the gift of faith. They figure they will have time in the end to repent of their sins, believe in Christ Jesus as their Savior, and finally be saved. But it doesn’t always work that way. Death-bed conversions are very rare. And besides that, you don’t know if you will have a death-bed. You may have a death-auto accident or a death-heart attack. A life-time of rejecting the gospel usually does not change into a last moment of accepting the gospel.  

            The closest I came in my 34-years of ministry to a death-bed conversion was a man who was dying at a veteran’s hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The man had a smattering of Christianity as a child, but that was it. He showed no interest in the faith for most of his life. Now he wanted to speak with a pastor. His family knew me, so they asked if I would visit him. And I did, three times.

          The first time I walked into his room, I introducing myself and talked about his sin and his need for a Savior, and I read some Bible passage on both. But I don’t know if he actually heard me. He was so medicated with drugs and morphine that I don’t think he knew I was even there. So I thought I would try again.

          The second time I visited him he was a bit more alert so I tried to get some kind of confession of sins and profession of faith in Christ Jesus. But he was so preoccupied with his pain that he did not seem to understand what I was saying, and he certainly made no response. So I just read the 23^rd Psalm and left. I decided to try one more time a few days later.

          But the third time I walked into his room the bed was empty. He had died. And I thought to myself, “His soul is in God’s hands now. I’m not sure if I got through to him or not. Maybe by the Spirit’s power the Word did penetrate his heart. If only he had concerned himself about his eternity earlier. If only he had not waited so long. I hope I never have to go through that experience again, but it happens a lot, I’m sure, because many are just not ready.

          Are you ready for when the lights go out? Paul wrote, “Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11). We are closer to meeting the Lord now than ever before. Tomorrow we will be even closer. Jesus said to his disciples, “Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come” (Matthew 25:13).

          But how do we “keep watch?” Paul writes, “Devote yourselves to prayer being watchful and thankful” (Colossians 4:2). Persistence in prayer makes us ready. So does thankfulness, because it reminds us that everything good that we have now and will have comes from the Lord.

          Paul also wrote, “Do not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, and all the more as you see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). The “day approaching” is judgement day, and “meeting together” is public worship. A worship life that focuses on the Word makes us ready. By being here today, by God’s grace, you are more ready for the judgment day after you leave this worship service than you were before you came. There is something about gathering together with fellow Christians that keeps the fire of faith going.

          Peter asked, “What kind of people are we to be?” He answered his own question with these words, “You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming” (2 Peter 3:12). No Christian is ready for judgment day who is engaging in any kind of willful, unrepentant sin. Instead, live holy lives. And the only way that can happen is to put away that conscious, deliberate sin, and repent of all sins of weakness and temptation.

          But Peter says that by living holy lives we will speed Christ’s return. How can our holy lives make Christ come back sooner? Because our lives will be a witness to others, who will then turn to the faith as well. And the more God’s elect come to faith, the sooner Jesus will return.

          The last words recorded by Jesus are in the book of Revelation the last chapter the last verses where Jesus says, “I am coming soon.” May we all be ready to say with confidence, “Amen. Come Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20).

May we pray:

Dear Lord Jesus: Make us watchful each day for your reappearing in glory. By your Spirit strengthen our knowledge, acceptance, and trust in you through your Word and sacrament. May we never grow weary of praying, gathering with our fellow believers, or resisting sin. May the world see you in us so that many others come to confess their sins, come to faith, and accept you by faith. In your name we pray. Amen.