Sermon: "Jesus is giving wisdom, oil and wicks for your lamps" Trinity 27 2024

24. November 2024

Trinity 27

Matthew 25:1-13

Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.

In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Wake up! Don’t fall asleep! Keep those lamps burning and those wicks trimmed! Do it… or else! You might miss the boat, or rather, the bridegroom. Don’t be stupid, be wise! Be ready! Watch, therefore, since you don’t know the day or the hour! Jesus has revved up the end-of-the-year, redlining your anxieties. Will you be found awake? Or will you be asleep? Will you have enough oil? Or will you run out? Are you ready? Or are you unprepared? Are you wise? Or are you foolish?

His warnings are in order. Now, it’s easy to point the finger at those people. You know them: the ones sleeping in this morning. The ones who’d rather spend the weekend up north. The ones who have no use for any of the rigors of parish life: the prayers too disciplined, the readings are unintelligible, the hymns too hard, the liturgy too long, and the pastor too obtuse. The ones who are always looking for priorities other than Jesus, His Word, and His gifts, received here week in and week out freely and bountifully.

But Jesus’ warning today is for you. Those people have already gone or are on their way. They won’t hear this sermon because of what trust they have — that trust hasn’t compelled them even to listen to Jesus for an hour and a quarter this week. And you can’t do anything about them, according to Jesus. They’re foolish, mistaken, confused. You can try to cajole, bait, incentivize, promote, and market this church and school to your heart’s content. It won’t matter because they’re in the dark. But today is not about them.

Jesus is saying these words to you and for you. The warning is that, despite what you’ve persuaded yourself to believe, you’re not any different from those who are out of earshot of Jesus’ words today. You’re not different…not at all. “The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one” (Ps 14:2–3). You’re just as much a flesh-and-blood sinner as any of those who failed to show today, whose lamps burned out and wicks grew too short. You’re just as susceptible to unbelief and eternal damnation as anybody.

As you know all too well, miss one Sunday, and then it’s three in a row before you know it. Forget your prayers, and it’s months before you notice. You all were once diligent in memorizing and reciting the Small Catechism, but now that confession of faith is on a shelf and is gathering cobwebs in your mind. Good luck reciting even the Ten Commandments, never mind their explanations. And then there are all the distractions and false priorities of your life. You’re always looking down and around, never looking up for the LORD’s coming. Once a burning flame, your faith can quickly burn down to embers.

It will take a blessed miracle to restore any trust in the Son of Man and Son of God, Jesus. It will take you daily dying to sin and rising to new life in Jesus. It will take you hearing Jesus’s Word over and over as He burns, melts, and purifies your sinful heart. It will take you receiving Jesus’s flesh and blood to satisfy that hunger nothing and no one else has satisfied. All the mistaken notions, false assumptions, foolishness, are cut away and burned by Jesus, every day overcome and undermined by Jesus’ forgiveness of your sins.

Who are you today? Consider your heart. And who surrounds you today? Look around. I’ll tell you what I see. I see the fulfillment of Wisdom. “The ear that hears the rebukes of life Will abide among the wise. He who disdains instruction despises his own soul, But he who heeds rebuke gets understanding. The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, And before honor is humility” (Pr 15:31–33).

I see in you the bride of Jesus, His holy Church, waiting and watching. I see in you lamps lit with the light of Christ, who lightens the world. I see you, the betrothed and beloved of God, trusting in your Baptism into Jesus. I see Christ’s wholly forgiven bride, keeping watch for His coming, listening to His Word, and even now feasting on His body and blood. I see the restored Israel, the new Jerusalem, adorned as a bride for her husband. I don’t see anyone sleeping, but every member of Christ’s church and bride awake, praying His Word, singing the faith, recalling all His wonderful works. I see in you Jesus doing what only He can do: giving wisdom, oil and wicks for your lamps.

And yes, you will for asleep for a time, just like anybody. Pray that those you fall asleep with those who have already fallen asleep in Jesus. And pray God the Holy Spirit works in the hearts and minds of those in the dark, sleepwalking through life, without love for Jesus or His Word. It’ll be a miracle, but miracles are what Jesus is all about. He’s all about raising the dead, even those whom you love who are dead in trespasses and sins. And in the end, He will cry out to you and all the dead and bring you and all believers to His wedding feast that has no end. God, grant it for the sake of your promise. In the holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guards your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church & School - Sherman Center
Random Lake, Wisconsin