"Don’t Miss Out on the Party!" Last Sunday of the Church Year November 22, 2015 Matthew 25:1–13
Don’t worry if you’re not a party animal. This isn’t one of those parties where there are more kegs than a microbrewery has. Of course, the party animals might not be interested. But no matter, Jesus knows how to throw a party. And He doesn’t want you to miss out on His. See, too many people miss the whole point of a party. A party where you indulge in your base desires is really no party at all. People certainly enjoy pleasure from indulging in base desires, but that’s all there is to it. It’s momentary pleasure. It’s not complete. It always leaves you wanting more, until finally you realize there’s a limit. And it is decidedly self-centered. Ultimately, left to yourself, there is no true enjoyment, no real party. You have a party to celebrate. You have a party to share in the joy of others. It is decidedly centered on others and you share in their joy. People invite you to their party because they want you to share in their joy. You invite others to your party because you want them to share in your joy. You don’t want to miss out on the party that Jesus is going to throw. He has the ultimate joy, and He will throw the ultimate party. He invites you to His party. He doesn’t want you to miss out on it. In the parable of the Ten Maidens there are details such as lamps and oil and waiting and of course the maidens themselves. The Bridegroom shows up, and He happens to show up late. Five of the maidens are ready and they get to go into the party. The other five aren’t, and they’re left out. There has been a lot of ink spilled about these maidens, their lamps, why some brought extra oil, why some didn’t. A lot of energy has been spent in figuring out what the oil means, why having the extra oil made it possible for those five maidens to go into the party. Often what is lost in all of this is that there’s a party! The maidens are waiting for the Bridegroom so that they can go into the party and celebrate! He shows up so that He can bring them into the party. That’s what this parable is about. It’s about the party and Jesus impressing upon you that He doesn’t want you to miss out on His eternal party! It is a party unlike any you have been to. Some parties are so enjoyable that the night gets long and you know you have to go home soon so you can get some sleep. Some parties seem interminably long and you start going through your mental list of excuses of why you really need to be getting home. The party that Jesus is going to throw? First, it has already started. The saints who have gone before us are already living it up with the angels and archangels before God Himself. And it never ends. You never get tired or tired of it. It’s the best party ever, partly because there’s never any cleaning up afterward. It keeps going, in the way of those parties that you never want to end. He has already prepared everything. There’s no cover charge. There’s not even a gift you have to bring. You just show up and He hosts you and you share in His eternal joy. If you miss out on this party, you won’t only miss out on a good thing, you will be banished forever. The opposite of Jesus’ party in heaven is torment in hell. The ones who didn’t make it into the party weren’t just left out in the cold. Jesus tells this parable so that you don’t miss out on the party like they did and so that you don’t suffer eternal damnation. The five maidens who were wise were wise because they had prepared. They were showing up for the Bridegroom, but so were the five foolish maidens. The foolish maidens were foolish because they didn’t prepare. All ten of them were excited about the Bridegroom coming and the party He would invite them to. The Christian Church is like that. It’s full of people who know the Lord and are excited about Him. They are looking forward to Him returning in glory, they can’t wait to get to heaven. They’re ready for the party to begin. But some are ready for when He returns, and some are not. Some are ready if they die before He returns, and some are not. Why are some ready? Because they are prepared. Those who are not ready are not ready because they’re not prepared. The wise maidens were prepared, that’s why they brought the extra oil. They were waiting for the Bridegroom. Waiting means exactly that. It means waiting. And all too often we’re impatient. We often think things are fine the way they are. We believe in Jesus so we think we’re good to go. There’s no thought to preparation. There’s no effort in preparing for Him if He delays His return. So how do you prepare? If bringing extra oil was the wise thing to do, how do we be wise and prepare for our Lord’s return so that we don’t miss out on the party? We live by faith. We live trusting in our Lord instead of just believing in Him. If you believe in Him but you don’t live like it, do you really believe in Him? If you believe in Him but you don’t trust in Him for all that is good in your life, do you really believe He is your Lord and Savior? If you believe in Him but you don’t entrust all things to Him, do you really trust in Him, that everything He does for you is what is good and gracious and according to His will? Do you pray according to God’s will, believing that He will only give you what is good even though it may appear as bad? Do you pray for what you desire, but praying that His will be done, not yours? Do you believe wholeheartedly that even if evil befalls you that God would never give up on you and will guard you at all times and in all circumstances? Are you prepared to entrust your entire life to Him even though it means waiting on Him? Even though if it means He delays, do you still believe He will come to you? The wise maidens did not just believe, they were in it for the long haul. They knew He was coming, they just didn’t know when. They believed He was coming and so they lived like it. The Bridegroom had invited them to a party, and they weren’t going to miss out on it! Our Lord has invited us to His party, and He doesn’t want us to miss out on it! We not only are invited, we’re encouraged to prepare so that we don’t have to miss out on it. We prepare by being here. This is our Lord’s House. This is where He has promised to be. True, no one is saved by attending church. But God saves us by coming to us. Before He returns in glory He comes to us in His Gospel. This is the place where His Gospel is proclaimed. This is the place where people are Baptized. It is in this place the Bridegroom Himself shows up under the form of bread and wine. We are actually forgiven our sins in the Gospel proclaimed, the Baptismal waters rushing over us, and eating and drinking the very body and blood of our Lord. You won’t miss out on the party if you’re prepared for when He invites you into the heavenly and eternal palace. When you live each day by grace, knowing you’re a sinner but that you live redeemed and forgiven and saved. When you humbly trust in your Lord who could have lived each day on this earth in opulence but chose instead to have no place to lay His head and finally bow His head in death on a cross. When you see more and more that this life you live here on earth is not your own, but that you are your Lord’s; that you have been bought with a price; that He loves you and saves you and forgives you and is coming again to take you Home, to welcome you to the party that never sleeps and just gets better and better as it goes along. Amen. SDG -- Pastor Paul L. Willweber Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS] 6801 Easton Ct., San Diego, California 92120 619.583.1436 princeofpeacesd.net three-taverns.net It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything except where the marks of the Church are concerned. [Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian] _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
