Last Sunday of the Church Year, 2021
Rev. Thomas Van Hemert
Last Sunday of the Church Year
St. Matthew 25:1-13
November 21, 2021
In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.
At the end of the Parable of the Ten Virgins, Jesus gives a warning, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” This is somewhat grim and seems almost contrary to the way we understand Law and Gospel. We often say, “Well the Gospel must predominate,” that is, “The Gospel must always have the last word.” But that’s not the case in this parable. Jesus ends with a warning. He is warning us because we need to be warned. Jesus doesn’t want us to fall asleep without oil. We don’t know when that last day and hour is, so we need to watch ourselves. We need to watch against the devil’s snares, lest asleep he find us. He spares no pains and deceives and blinds us to the truth. And Satan’s prey are often those who secure are sleeping and no watch are keeping for that day and that hour. That day and hour is the exact time that Jesus, the Bridegroom, will return for His betrothed. You don’t know when that hour is. Jesus doesn’t know when that hour is. Only His Father—our Father—in heaven knows. So we need to be keeping watch.
How are you keeping watch? It’s time to examine yourselves. In these last days, we all must take an inward look at our lives and the way we live. The wise virgins have oil. They are the ones with faith. The foolish virgins lack oil. They have no faith. This is not a parable about Christians and pagans. This is a parable about true Christians and hypocritical Christians. Whether we want to believe it or not, there are fake Christians in the Church. They are the ones who have all the outward trappings of Christianity: they still come to Church, they receive the Lord’s Supper every week without fail, they volunteer in the Church, they serve on various boards and in different capacities, and they bring treats for fellowship. And yet they do these things only so that they would look good in the sight of men. They store treasures up for themselves in this world. They love how others speak well of them. They store up power and authority for themselves in the Church as if they were Her rulers. But in the end, because they have no faith, they’ll be exposed as hypocrites and fools because they had no oil in their lamps.
These foolish virgins, these hypocritical Christians are like a rich fool whose land produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” And he said, “I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store up my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, You have ample goods laid up for many years; now is the time to relax, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So is the one who lays up treasure for himself in this world and is not rich toward God. The rich man was rich in the things of this world, and yet it didn’t benefit his soul because he was not rich with faith. You cannot take the things of this world with you.
The same is true for these foolish virgins. They have not the oil of faith. They went about this life lacking faith. They put off prayer, singing hymns and spiritual songs, and confessing their sins so as to receive absolution. They simply wanted to look like Christians and so they went through the motions. And while they may have been able to fool their fellow churchgoers, they will not fool the Judge of all because the Lord knows the hearts of men. He sees whether or not there is oil in our lamps because once oil is ignited, it shines forth with a bright light. The lights that shines forth from these oil lamps are the good works they did which flow from faith. When the Bridegroom comes, both the wise and foolish virgins’ souls will be required of them. The call will be heard, “Here is the Bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” The wise virgins knew they needed oil so they filled their lamps whenever they could. They planned ahead. They lived the life of a Christian in what they thought, said, and did. And while they too, failed to keep watch for a time, their faith sustained them through their sleep. Their faith sustained them, even in death.
How are you keeping watch? How are you living the life of faith? It’s time to examine yourselves. In these last days, we need to look at our lives and prepare. The Bridegroom has not come yet because the Lord is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance. Thus, He is delayed. He is purposefully delayed so that we might have time to fill our lamps with oil. We do that by receiving the Means of Grace in faith. We don’t just wander into church as though it’s such a chore and as if sitting through a Divine Service that takes longer than an hour is such a burden. Don’t just go through the motions! Receive these means of grace in faith and in joy! They’re meant to provide you with solace and relief and comfort.
Do you have daily devotions at home with your spouse or with your children? You should. Do you pray before meals and before bed and the like? You should. Is your home a Christian home? It should be. You are all Christians. All Christians also need to stop spending so much time watching the news, wasting your time on social media, and looking at electronic screens. These things are not good for you and they’re not that beneficial or profitable. Spend time talking with your family members face to face. Play a board game. Read a book. Read a Christian book. In fact, read a good Lutheran book that’s doctrinally sound, that will help you grow in your education and understanding of sound doctrine. None of this wishy-washy feel-good Christianity, which uses a lot of words but doesn’t say a whole lot. There’s a lot of junk out there. But also make sure you’re reading the Bible as well. That’s probably the beset thing you can do in your home. Study the Scriptures in your home. Give your kids assignments and have them read the Bible. Make your dinnertime conversation centered around Bible stories. If you just read three chapters of the Bible each day, you’ll finish the Bible in a year. But start slow. Start with the Gospel of Mark. It’s the shortest Gospel. It contains the actual words of Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.
Prayer is another thing so beneficial and so crucial to the Christian home. Prayer drives off demons and devils that seek to harm you. And if you’ve been lacking in your prayer life, now is the perfect time to start. We are at the end of the church year. Next Sunday begins Advent and a new church year. It’s a perfect time to start. But again, start slow. Pray the common table prayer before meals. Make the sign of the cross upon yourself. The sign of the cross is an acted out prayer. For you received the cross of Jesus in your baptism. If anyone tells you that the sign of the cross is a “Roman Catholic” practice, ignore them. Tell them they’re ignorant, they don’t know what they’re talking about, and they don’t understand church history. Luther encouraged Christians to do it in the Small Catechism. All we’re doing is touching the four points of the cross and by doing that’ we’re saying, “I am baptized! What is upon the altar, the body and blood of Christ, that’s mine by right! It has been promised to me. Eternal life, forgiveness of sin, the righteousness of Christ are all mine because I have been baptized!” It’s a wonderful little acted out prayer.
Pray the Lord’s Prayer before going to bed at night. Being in holy conversation with God drives off all sorts of evil and unites yourself with God, just like the hymn stanza says, “But while watching, also pray to the Lord unceasing. God protects you day by day, strength and faith increasing, so that sill mind and will shall unite to serve Him and forever love Him.”
Admonish your family members and your children if they have been lacking in this. It’s your duty as a Christian to encourage them and your friends to keep watch for that final day. And if you’ve been lacking in this regard, apologize and repent. Tell them you’re sorry and you wish to do better. Because love covers a multitude of sins.
The Church is the bride of Christ. The virgins in the parable are all betrothed to Him. By keeping watch for Him, by doing these things, and also by coming to this place regularly, not just on Christmas and Easter, but every week, you receive oil for your lamps because The Bridegroom comes to you even now. But even that’s just a foretaste. Here you also learn and are trained how to live a Godly and virtuous life. This is how your lamps are filled with the oil of faith.
This is how you keep watch. This is how you are deemed to be a wise virgin. You are betrothed to Christ. You are part of this church. You didn’t make yourself presentable to Christ or do anything that would or could please Him. Out of His love He has for you since before you were conceived in your mother’s womb, He knew you and He loved you. He chose you because He is a loving and merciful God. Sooner than we know it, we will all hear the cry, “Here is the Bridegoom! Come to meet Him.”
In +Jesus’ name.
