Last Sunday of the Church Year 11/20/05 Text: Matthew 25:1-13 Title: If Only I Had Known!
Last Sunday of the church year
11/20/2005
Text: Matthew 25:1-13
Title: If Only I Had Known!
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen
I believe that one of the saddest statements that I have ever heard is “If only I had known.” I remember that time I was visiting an alcoholic dying from liver disease who told me, “If only I had known, that when I took that first drink I would end up dying this way, I would never have done it.” Then there was the lung cancer patient on oxygen struggling to breath that told me, “If only I had known, that when I started smoking, I would end up with lung cancer, I would never have lit that first cigarette.” The gambler who just had his family leave him who told me, “If only I had known that when I first pushed that button on a slot machine that I would become addicted to gambling, I would never have done it.” Then there was the woman I was counseling. She had been physically and emotionally abused, and had several small children at her side as she told me, “If only I had known that my boyfriend was not going to change after I married him, I would not have married him.”
I don’t think that I would be wrong if I said there is not a human who has ever lived or is alive today who has not said at some time or other those sad words of regret, “If only I had known.” as they looked back over some incident in their life that they wished had turned out differently.
Our Gospel reading for this morning, usually titled, “The ten virgins” could have been titled, “If only I had known.”, for it shows us that regret is nothing new. I am pretty sure that each of the 5 foolish virgins, or maidens, the Greek word could be used either way, after being locked out of the wedding party called out, “If only I had known, I would have made sure that I had enough oil.” But you see, just like the alcoholic, the smoker, the gambler, and the abused woman, it was too late. Their regret did not excuse them from the consequences of their actions. It was simply too late.
Now, we all know that this particular parable was not told by Jesus to make sure that we kept a good supply of oil, or in our modern age, batteries in our lamps. It was told to tell us that we need to be prepared for Christ’s arrival because when he comes it will be too late to late to come to faith and say, “I believe that you are my Savior.”
This text is fitting for today, the last Sunday of the church year, for it is talking about Judgment Day, a day of regrets, or happiness, depending on your relationship with Jesus. This is not some picture story, or a fable with a moral point to be told to children. Jesus is not speaking to us of something we know, but of things we do not know, something beyond our understanding of what we call, “The last things”.
We can tell that Jesus is speaking of things that are not yet, but are in the future by looking at the first verse of our Gospel reading. Jesus says “At that time,” meaning some point in the future, the kingdom of heaven will be like ten young maidens, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom, who as we find out was late in getting there, but did show up, and they were not there.
When Judgment Day arrives, and it will, then this parable will be fulfilled. Then the foolishness of the foolish and wisdom of the wise will be fulfilled. Then this parable will not be of any help to you. Then the divine patience of God will end. Then the door of heaven will be open for the wise and closed for the foolish. Then Jesus will speak those words that are so harsh sounding to us, “Truly I say to you, I know you not.”
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the message that our Lord is giving us today is harsh. It is harsh, but that is what we confess every Sunday when we say in the creed, “I believe that Jesus sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead. “
Do you take that confession seriously? Do you clearly understand it? Do you truly believe what you are confessing to believe? I am asking those questions of you this morning, for there are people who claim to be Christians, but no longer see God as the judge of the world.
The very thought of there being a God who sits in judgment is repugnant to them. For the most part that thought has been extinguished in the minds of many people. How could there be a God cruel enough to condemn people to hell? They can’t accept that type of God. They want a God who loves everyone, who overlooks their faults, who just wants them to do their best.
When you really get down to it, isn’t that what we want, but the Bible does not speak of that kind of God. The God of the Bible is a God who has to punish those who do not meet his perfect and just demands. He is a God that does not cut anyone any slack. That is the kind of God that is portrayed in the Bible and we don’t like it, do we?
The people of the Old Testament believed God was a God to be feared, a perception that was believed by the vast majority of Christians through the 15th Century and then something happened. In a very short time, our picture of the world and heaven became confused.
Martin Luther spoke often of this confusion as he wrote and preached about the forgiveness of sins that men give themselves. He wrote in one notation, “He who forgives himself his own sins is his own God.” Martin Luther could see even at the time he lived that people were starting to reverse the roles of God and man.
He saw what was taking place and he was not wrong, for I am afraid that we want to place ourselves in the judgment seat and place God in the defendant’s seat. It seems that instead of the doctrine of justification being the main focus of Christianity, the main focus of the Christian faith has become the justification and defense of God.
Think about it for a moment. Haven’t you ever asked, “If God created the world, why is it so full of evil, sorrow, and injustice? If God is love, how can we speak of the wrath of God? Since we, as sinful as we are can forgive others, why is it that God required the terrible and bloody sacrifice of Jesus to be made before he could forgive? Why did he choose the people of Israel and not a different race?”
The list could go on and on, but all questions similar to those are all unanswerable, because they all are asking questions about the hidden nature of God. They are unanswerable, but in asking them, we have put God on trial.
How arrogant can we get? We who are totally dependent on the God who created all things, who sustains all things, who has all authority in heaven and on earth, who will ultimately stand in judgment over us, being put on trial? What arrogance on our part.
We confess with our mouth our faith in him, he who comes to judge the living and the dead. But do we take this confession of faith seriously? Is the foolishness of the 5 virgins our foolishness? Have we become tired and sleepy in the Christian faith? Have we let our lamps of hope, with which we would escort the coming Christ, go out?
Listen to the call of God in the parable for it is a call to us? “Here is the bridegroom. Come out to meet him.” Will you be ready to meet the bridegroom Jesus, before he shuts the door and you hear, “Truly I say to you, I know you not.”? I pray that you will be ready, for he who calls out, is also the one who opens the door that no one can shut.
Now there is good news, for he who is coming to judge the living and the dead, is also he who says, “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25) is also the one who made peace between us and God, who with his Holy Word said to us that no one who believes in him will be lost.
What a comfort it is to know, to maybe discover for the first time today that the judgment that will be pronounced on you on Judgment Day does not depend on your actions, your work, but only on the wonderful free gift of forgiveness that Jesus won for you on that cross.
Hear once more his promise in John 11:25, “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” and in John’s Revelation, his words of comfort, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending.”
Go in peace, knowing that as a child of God you will never having to worry about saying on Judgment Day, “If only I had known.”, for the God who is going to judge the living and the dead, who closes and no one opens, who opens and no one closes, is your God, the God of the Bible. Amen
11/20/2005
Text: Matthew 25:1-13
Title: If Only I Had Known!
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen
I believe that one of the saddest statements that I have ever heard is “If only I had known.” I remember that time I was visiting an alcoholic dying from liver disease who told me, “If only I had known, that when I took that first drink I would end up dying this way, I would never have done it.” Then there was the lung cancer patient on oxygen struggling to breath that told me, “If only I had known, that when I started smoking, I would end up with lung cancer, I would never have lit that first cigarette.” The gambler who just had his family leave him who told me, “If only I had known that when I first pushed that button on a slot machine that I would become addicted to gambling, I would never have done it.” Then there was the woman I was counseling. She had been physically and emotionally abused, and had several small children at her side as she told me, “If only I had known that my boyfriend was not going to change after I married him, I would not have married him.”
I don’t think that I would be wrong if I said there is not a human who has ever lived or is alive today who has not said at some time or other those sad words of regret, “If only I had known.” as they looked back over some incident in their life that they wished had turned out differently.
Our Gospel reading for this morning, usually titled, “The ten virgins” could have been titled, “If only I had known.”, for it shows us that regret is nothing new. I am pretty sure that each of the 5 foolish virgins, or maidens, the Greek word could be used either way, after being locked out of the wedding party called out, “If only I had known, I would have made sure that I had enough oil.” But you see, just like the alcoholic, the smoker, the gambler, and the abused woman, it was too late. Their regret did not excuse them from the consequences of their actions. It was simply too late.
Now, we all know that this particular parable was not told by Jesus to make sure that we kept a good supply of oil, or in our modern age, batteries in our lamps. It was told to tell us that we need to be prepared for Christ’s arrival because when he comes it will be too late to late to come to faith and say, “I believe that you are my Savior.”
This text is fitting for today, the last Sunday of the church year, for it is talking about Judgment Day, a day of regrets, or happiness, depending on your relationship with Jesus. This is not some picture story, or a fable with a moral point to be told to children. Jesus is not speaking to us of something we know, but of things we do not know, something beyond our understanding of what we call, “The last things”.
We can tell that Jesus is speaking of things that are not yet, but are in the future by looking at the first verse of our Gospel reading. Jesus says “At that time,” meaning some point in the future, the kingdom of heaven will be like ten young maidens, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom, who as we find out was late in getting there, but did show up, and they were not there.
When Judgment Day arrives, and it will, then this parable will be fulfilled. Then the foolishness of the foolish and wisdom of the wise will be fulfilled. Then this parable will not be of any help to you. Then the divine patience of God will end. Then the door of heaven will be open for the wise and closed for the foolish. Then Jesus will speak those words that are so harsh sounding to us, “Truly I say to you, I know you not.”
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the message that our Lord is giving us today is harsh. It is harsh, but that is what we confess every Sunday when we say in the creed, “I believe that Jesus sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead. “
Do you take that confession seriously? Do you clearly understand it? Do you truly believe what you are confessing to believe? I am asking those questions of you this morning, for there are people who claim to be Christians, but no longer see God as the judge of the world.
The very thought of there being a God who sits in judgment is repugnant to them. For the most part that thought has been extinguished in the minds of many people. How could there be a God cruel enough to condemn people to hell? They can’t accept that type of God. They want a God who loves everyone, who overlooks their faults, who just wants them to do their best.
When you really get down to it, isn’t that what we want, but the Bible does not speak of that kind of God. The God of the Bible is a God who has to punish those who do not meet his perfect and just demands. He is a God that does not cut anyone any slack. That is the kind of God that is portrayed in the Bible and we don’t like it, do we?
The people of the Old Testament believed God was a God to be feared, a perception that was believed by the vast majority of Christians through the 15th Century and then something happened. In a very short time, our picture of the world and heaven became confused.
Martin Luther spoke often of this confusion as he wrote and preached about the forgiveness of sins that men give themselves. He wrote in one notation, “He who forgives himself his own sins is his own God.” Martin Luther could see even at the time he lived that people were starting to reverse the roles of God and man.
He saw what was taking place and he was not wrong, for I am afraid that we want to place ourselves in the judgment seat and place God in the defendant’s seat. It seems that instead of the doctrine of justification being the main focus of Christianity, the main focus of the Christian faith has become the justification and defense of God.
Think about it for a moment. Haven’t you ever asked, “If God created the world, why is it so full of evil, sorrow, and injustice? If God is love, how can we speak of the wrath of God? Since we, as sinful as we are can forgive others, why is it that God required the terrible and bloody sacrifice of Jesus to be made before he could forgive? Why did he choose the people of Israel and not a different race?”
The list could go on and on, but all questions similar to those are all unanswerable, because they all are asking questions about the hidden nature of God. They are unanswerable, but in asking them, we have put God on trial.
How arrogant can we get? We who are totally dependent on the God who created all things, who sustains all things, who has all authority in heaven and on earth, who will ultimately stand in judgment over us, being put on trial? What arrogance on our part.
We confess with our mouth our faith in him, he who comes to judge the living and the dead. But do we take this confession of faith seriously? Is the foolishness of the 5 virgins our foolishness? Have we become tired and sleepy in the Christian faith? Have we let our lamps of hope, with which we would escort the coming Christ, go out?
Listen to the call of God in the parable for it is a call to us? “Here is the bridegroom. Come out to meet him.” Will you be ready to meet the bridegroom Jesus, before he shuts the door and you hear, “Truly I say to you, I know you not.”? I pray that you will be ready, for he who calls out, is also the one who opens the door that no one can shut.
Now there is good news, for he who is coming to judge the living and the dead, is also he who says, “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25) is also the one who made peace between us and God, who with his Holy Word said to us that no one who believes in him will be lost.
What a comfort it is to know, to maybe discover for the first time today that the judgment that will be pronounced on you on Judgment Day does not depend on your actions, your work, but only on the wonderful free gift of forgiveness that Jesus won for you on that cross.
Hear once more his promise in John 11:25, “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” and in John’s Revelation, his words of comfort, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending.”
Go in peace, knowing that as a child of God you will never having to worry about saying on Judgment Day, “If only I had known.”, for the God who is going to judge the living and the dead, who closes and no one opens, who opens and no one closes, is your God, the God of the Bible. Amen
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 3:00 PM
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