Monday after 3rd Last - A Devotion

 Devotion for Monday after 3rd Last 

Jeremiah 22:1-23       Matthew 25:1-13

Today’s reading from Matthew is also the Gospel lesson for the Last Sunday of the Church year, we know it well, the parable of the Ten Virgins – five are wise – five are foolish.

Both sets of girls have all that they need for life in the world now, the share in all the goods and ills of the world.  The wise though, have the faith that will get them through their lives in God’s grace, with the Bridegroom who is presently unable to be seen and completely known.

The foolish took their lamps, but took no oil with them.  They lived life as normal. They are content and happy, assuming the luck will continue to treat them well. They do not need to make any effort to deal with the unexpected. They have always had all that they need, they believe they do not need to be prepared for that which isn’t going to happen, at least not today.  But the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.

Jesus sets things on edge here.  The foolish girls were invited to a wedding, they only needed enough oil in their lamps for the evening, so they filled the lamps and went.  The wise however were carrying gallon Clorox jugs full of lamp oil with them, as well as their full lamps.  Isn’t that a bit excessive?  Why drag the excess along? Why prepare for something so unexpected as needing extra oil?

The foolish girls are wise enough, aren’t they, they have full lamps? The wise are over prepared prudes, preoccupied with what might go wrong rather than simply enjoying the moment.

The thing is, things go wrong.  In this world things always go wrong.  We need to be prepared for the unexpected. COVID breaks out all over the world. The Bridegroom doesn’t come at the time expected, He is delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.  They all giggled themselves to sleep at the slumber party before the big day.

But at midnight there was a cry, 'Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.'   That’s right, the unexpected happened.

But whose fault is it that the foolish girls ran out of oil?  Isn’t it the Bridegroom’s?  If He would have showed up on time, they had enough oil.  We all like to blame God, don’t we?  Who was it that went to the cross?  Who is it that died for who? And who was all invited to the wedding?

“Here is the bridegroom!” is the cry every year on the last Sunday of the church year.  It is the cry of the last three Sundays, also the cry of Advent.  It is the cry that begins every church year and the cry that ends every church year. 

“Here is the bridegroom!” is the watchword that encompasses the whole church year.

“Here is the bridegroom!” is the watchword of every time there is the Divine Service in God’s house.

Consider that God does deliver on His promise to bring all to Himself.  He has reconciled all to Himself with the work He accomplished on the cross – it is ours no matter what our sins might be.  Consider Peter, consider Judus, all were brought by Jesus into His closest circle by the voice of His calling. All we need to do is to trust and receive that reconciliation, He has called us too be a part of the wedding party, He wants us at the marriage feast. Are we ready when it happens?

Some note that the wise virgins are kind of snotty in their response to the five foolish asking for some oil when they say, 'Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.'  Let’s face it, everybody knows that the oil dealers closed shop somewhere between 4:00 and 6:00.  Why wouldn’t they share?  Well, that’s the point, isn’t it, one day time will run out. It will be too late to believe.  Nobody gets away with saying, “Maybe,” or “Later,” to faith forever.

All the girls with their Clorox bottles, all the neurotics of faith, all the wise fools of Jesus were willing to trust Him, the ones who were close-minded and said, “We go to worship every week” and had their faith strengthened.  Those were the ones who went into the party.

Notice what Jesus says to those outside.  He doesn’t say: I never called you;  nor, I never loved you; nor even, I never drew you to myself.  He says, I never knew you, because they never bothered to know Him.

The marriage feast is before us.  We are filling the bleach bottle with oil when we gather together to receive God’s gifts. Jesus say, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”  We watch by gathering to hear of sins forgiven.  We are bridesmaids because we have been invited to be such – not because we are better, brighter, prettier, or anything else.  We are bridesmaids because of God’s grace.

We could be all worried about stuff, we could get nervous about not knowing the day or the hour, but why?  We’re waiting for a party, the marriage feast.  Think about how that works.  While the guests wait for the bridal party to show up, the feast already begins – hors d'oeuvres, wine, all sorts of goodies are happening – they are brought out for people to eat and drink and enjoy. 

And while we wait, attendants keep bringing out the feast – pastors bring out the things of God’s marriage – we eat and drink, we have a foretaste of the feast to come, we partake of the goodness of the Lord.  To the marriage feast we come each and every week.

Yes, we need to watch for Him. But we watch for him because it would be such a pity to miss all the joy which we have already been invited.