The Church Waits

The Church Waits

Thesis: Pack a little extra spiritual vigor. It's going to be a long night.

For Kids:

For Kids:

For Kids:

Be prepared.

Packing important things

Priorities

Me

Jason Clark and the magic pill for sour and bitter food - made from plants in the Amazon Rainforest.

Made for impoverished countries with no food.

How I feel when I hear about violence done to Christians - especially unexpectedly.

Mad, Sad, and Scared

Those feelings are not wrong, but if we let them lead us, they will take our focus away from Christ and lead us to destructive places.

We

Actively waiting on God

God

Matthew 25:1–13 ESV

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids

25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. 11 Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ 13 Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

"It is a commonplace of literary criticism that authors give themselves away in their last chapters. However much they may have allowed themselves a certain latitude of expression during the earlier parts of their work, they do at last tighten their focus and give their readers the crispest possible picture of what they have been trying to say all along. It is with that in mind that I come now to (Aland nos. 298300), 300), the final chapter ofJesus' entire corpus of parables. For the three parables that it comprises -the Ten Virgins, the Talents, and the Great Judgment -are indeed the capstone of his teaching." - Robert Farrar Capon

Accordingly, these parables are about a judgment pronounced on a world from which God, through all its history, was effectively absent or to put it more carefully, was present in a way so mysterious as to constitute, stitute, for all practical purposes, an absence. And therefore, insofar as they address themselves to humanity's response to that hidden God

They do not make moral behavior or spiritual achievement the matter of judgment; rather, they base the judgment solely on faith or unfaith in the mystery of the age-long presence-in-absence absence -the abiding parousia under history -of the divine redemption.

Problems

for all the parables of judgment, namely, the principle of inclusion before exclusion -the rule that any characters who are made outsiders at the end of the story must always be shown as insiders at the beginning.

For that is the whole point of the parable: some day, late or soon, it will be too late even to believe.

The dreadful sentence, "Amen, I say to you, I never knew you," is simply the truth of their condition. He does not say, "I never called you." He does not say, "I never loved you." He does not say, "I never drew you to myself." He only says, "I never knew you -because you never bothered to know me."

Problems

Why was groom delayed?

The Groom is late

He has been delayed... very delayed.

Evening wedding but he does not show until midnight

Time of Arrival?

Hour not known?

Midnight?

Last possible moment

Why?

He desires none should perish

2 Peter 3:8–9 ESV

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

John 3:16–21 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.

17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Where is the Bride?

Where is the Bride?

Absent from this story

Why?

It's not about her

Not entirely about groom either

It is not about the wedding servants either

It is about the bridesmaids (and perhaps groomsmen)

They are serving special roles in this wedding

They are chosen by the bride and groom

Serves as practice for their own wedding someday

Their job is fairly simple

Follow and celebrate with the bride and groom.

What are the Lamps and Oil?

Why "lamps" instead of torches?

Same word in Greek: Lampas

John translates this word as "torches" to describe what the soldiers carried when they came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Lights, usable outdoors

What is the oil?

Food

Most often in regards to temple food offerings

Not used in this sense in the gospels

Medicine

Anointing perfume

Lamp fuel

Light

Who are the virgins?

Who are the virgins?

5 Foolish Virgins

Bought the normal amount of oil

Enough for one burning

Probably last about 15 minutes

Taking care of themselves

Not thinking of others

Ready to celebrate now!

5 Wise Virgins

Bought extra oil

Hope for the best, but plan for the worst

Mrs. Clark's (Jason Clark's mom) Women's retreat

Taking extra chairs, towels, food, etc.

Expecting problems

Planning on sharing?

Helping people vs serving God

Sometimes we need to say no to others in order to say yes to God.

Losing our anointing

Some people don't know what they want

They know they don't want to die

But they don't want to follow Jesus either

If you don't follow Jesus you will stay lost. He may have found you today, but if you don't follow Him, you're going to be lost tomorrow.

Losing our light

Losing our light

We can follow Jesus, seeking after the lost, but if we go off on our own trying to save people, we may end up lost ourselves.

Everyone fell asleep

5 little lights went out

Everyone woke up at the last minute, but only 5 had enough light left over to make it to welcome the groom.

The other five were left out because they could not do the one job they had, and insulted the groom, like half of the wedding party showing up not dressed and prepared for the ceremony.

You:

Jesus tells us then three things we need to know and act on.

1. Jesus is going to be later than we are expecting and therefore we need to be prepared with extra provisions to make it through the long wait.

2. Now is the time, while it is still light, to be getting extra oil, extra anointing, extra light... and not only ourselves, but encouraging others to do the same.

3. We are all going to fall asleep, every one of us... but we don't have to all fall asleep at the same time.

We

We

How do we get oil for our lamps?

Get in God’s presence

Listen - Shema as the First Lord’s Prayer

Love - plenty to do to prepare, but don’t get so caught up in it that you stop hearing God or leave His presence.

King David found God most often in the presence of his enemies

Their is no fear in love

Let God lead you to His anointing oil that will overflow in your life.

Oil to let your light shine (invitation to receive anointing oil)