Last Sunday of the Church Year

 

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

    Imagine if you will that you are getting ready to go on the trip of a lifetime – one of those things you've always wanted to do. Let's say you and your best friend are going to travel to Egypt to see the Pyramids. And you've got a great trip planned – Cheryl Brutlag found you great hotels at fantastic rates, it's wonderful. Now, it's happening a bit later than you thought, because the trip was originally going to be back in the fall of 2020, and we all know what happened then, so there's a delay, and you've had to wait, but finally everything is set up and ready to go. And there you are, with your friend, in line at O'Hare, waiting to check on in, and you're talking with your friend about all the things you're going to do... and you pull out your passport, and your friend looks at you and says, “Why did you bring your passport?” “Because we need a passport to get on the plane, we are going to a different country. Didn't you bring yours?” “Eh, never bothered getting one.” “What do you mean, did it expire last year and you just forgot to renew it?” “Nah, never bothered to get one. I just figured I could borrow yours when we get up to the security check point.” What would your reaction to your friend be there? What would you call them – what term would describe what they are in the moment. I mean, it's not an accident, it's not I left my passport on the table or we slept through the alarm and left Kevin at home a la Home Alone... it's just rank disdain and a lack of seriousness or understanding reality. What would you call a person like that? Well, Jesus calls them morons.

    We have arrived at the end of the Church year, we get the parable of the wise and foolish virgins – literally “morons” in Greek, and it's such an odd day. There is a tendency to want to treat the end of the church year as such a solemn, serious day. It's dark, it's dire – maybe there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth, and a barn burning sermon that peels the paint off the walls and scares us straight for the year to come. But we're Christians, and we're saved by Christ, we've been redeemed and forgiven, and we're looking forward to heaven and eternal life and the joys of the resurrection. And the parable for today – it's not a dire set up, it's joyous – Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. You approach a wedding day with joy and excitement – there's going to be a fantastic reception. You don't approach it like it's the worst day in the history of the world – or if you do there's something catastrophically wrong. This is a good thing – and these 10 virgins all know it's a good thing – they want to meet the bridegroom, they want to head to the wedding party – they are looking forward to kicking up their heels and cutting a rug and having the time of their life. That's the setting. All these gals know something great is coming, and there ought not be a drop of direness or sorrow in this story at all.

    You do realize that Jesus has won? Though your sins are many and varied and they attack you in a variety of ways – Jesus has died and risen, and you are thoroughly forgiven. Nothing could be better. The world around you gets nuts and crazy – eh, Jesus is coming and He will fix it. Your body falls apart – eh, don't worry, Jesus is going to raise you from the dead and your new body won't fall apart, won't get wrinkly, your ears and eyes will work – it's fabulous because of Jesus. That's the setting, that's the set up for this parable, that's where we are going.

    And the only thing that gets is the way is utter, abject stupidity and buffoonery. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them. Understand how foolish, how idiotic this is – how utterly bizarre and absurd this would sound to anyone hearing it. A lamp with no oil for one of these gals is as nonsensical as going to the airport having never gotten a passport – it would be like a groomsman not bringing his outfit but rather wearing Pjs to the wedding – it would be trying to go shopping for a thanksgiving dinner and buying a frozen turkey at 2:30 Thursday afternoon. It's actually really hard to think of anything that is just as utterly moronic as what these foolish virgins do.

    And all the gals fall asleep. A lot of hay gets made of that – it really heighten the absurd tragedy – there would have been time for them to have been prepared, to get things set up, but they waste it. And then the day is here, the moment arrives, the bridegroom not only soon will call us but has – Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” Loan me your passport. I forgot my suit pants, can I borrow yours. Hey Siri, how do you thaw and cook a 20 pound turkey in 30 minutes? We can't, you've simply got to go get your oil, you've got to get your act in gear... but it ends up being too late. They run out of time. 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 doors were shut. And they miss it, simply because of their folly.

    Jesus speaks this parable in the temple during holy week, just before He is crucified. And the idea is simple – God's great plan of salvation is being enacted – in just hours Jesus will go to the Cross, the atonement will happen, it is finished, everything the Scriptures had been pointing to will be accomplished. It's all good, it's all in the bag. And you, O hearer – you who know the Word and promises of God, you who know of God's mercy and salvation... just don't be stupid. Don't be so stubbornly stupid and idiotic that you literally drag yourself away from Christ and His salvation, because you have to go through feats of extraordinary stupidity to get yourself out of the Kingdom, to miss this party. And yet, many of those hearing Jesus preach this parable did just that. They ignored and rejected Christ, they ignored reality, they choose something else as more important in the most stupid and silly of fashions, and they missed it.

    And this really is the warning, the reminder to you today, my dear friends. You know who Jesus is – you know that He is True God and True Man, come from heaven to win you salvation by His death and His resurrection. You know that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. You know that there is forgiveness, you know that you are baptized and have new life in Jesus. Don't be moronic and ignore this, or forget this, or pretend that it doesn't matter. Because that would be dumb. And the sad, simple truth that we can want to ignore, is that we are surrounded by stupidity and calls for us to be stupid. How many stupid fights are there in the world that try to pull you in? Not to put too dour a point on it, but how many family gatherings this past week saw utterly loveless stupid fights break out over the silliest things? That anger, that rage – that's just Satan trying to get you to become a moron and ignore Christ and His forgiveness, to not see all things in view of Christ, to forget that these people are people for whom Christ died.

    Think of the world and what it trumpets as important, as vital, as just what you need to do. And think of how much of it is stupid. Think of how much the world will try to distract and delude you by fashion, by trends, by faction. By busy-ness and oh this current thing and current issue is just so important and I have to pay attention to it and serve it... and Christ and His Church and the forgiveness that you receive and the forgiveness that you give to others in Jesus' name is forgotten. That's the world trying to make you foolish, trying to turn you into an oil lamp with absolutely no oil, dried out, worn, and empty.

    Question time. What is the first commandment? (You shall have no other gods.) And what does this mean? (We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.) Do you see how Satan is trying to make you moronic – how the world tries to twist your fears and your angers and your rage against people and how things turn out so that you forget wonders of Christ Jesus and His forgiveness? Do you see how Satan sets up so many stupid loves in front of you, where you run after them and chase after them and utterly forget Christ's Word of forgiveness and life? We all know those temptations, we all face them over and over. That's what sin is. But you know the solution to sin, you know the counter – you know who Christ Jesus is, what He has done. You know He is coming and ready to take you to the life of the world to come, and that this will be a good thing, the greatest thing ever – literally better than anything in the world. Don't be a moron and act like you don't know this. Because faith can wither and die when it's cut off from the Word. Faith comes by hearing; don't let Satan's use of rage or lust separate you from the Word of God. Because Jesus is coming, and it's good for you, and you need to be ready for that – and Jesus makes you ready by His Word, by His forgiveness.

    Christ is coming. He will come again. And if He tarries and we get to carry on as normal, we're going to going to start a new church year, and we'll spend time hearing again God's plan of salvation, how Jesus first came, born in Bethleham, God with us, God here to save us. And we will see Him take on the powers of sin and death and Satan, and show Himself to be True God and our Savior, and we'll see His Lenten journey to the Cross and we'll see Him rise again on Easter. And all of it, to make sure you are ready, that you remember and know, in the face of all the idiotic sin in the world, that Christ Jesus is your Savior, and His eternal feast is coming. And it's going to be fantastic – enjoy it in Christ Jesus. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +