Will Come Again to Judge The Living and The Dead

Mission and Vision

Apostles’ Creed

Sermon

I think I got some of my impatience taught to me from leaving the house

When it was time to go it was time to go

I’ve been left… just going to put on my shoes

When mom says let’s go… LETS GO

Hopefully if you’ve been with us as a part of the body you remember we started the year by beginning with the end in mind

Today we are going to look into that same concept

The church fathers, when affirming the statement of faith that is the Apostles Creed, felt that it was important to include the fact that Jesus Is coming again to judge the living and the dead

Why does that matter

Well Let’s jump into our scripture

Matthew 25:1-13

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.

Pray

The Apostle’s creed is all about what we believe

Not what we mentally acknowledge… but what we put our faith in and what truly matters in our lives

This clause in the creed… He will come again to judge the living and the dead

This is something that should affect the way that we live our lives

There should be some weight to that reality

In our scripture for today Jesus gives us insight into how our lives should reflect the reality that HE IS COMING BACK

What do we see from the virgins

We see that the ones who actually believed that the bridegroom was coming back were prepared

We know what they believed because of what they did

You can say you believe something but if it’s not reflected in your doing… then you are off

James tells us to be doers of the words and not hearers only… thus what? Deceiving ourselves.

If we are saying that we believe that the things that we do in this life matter. That we are representing the king of the universe and we will one day stand in front of him and give account… yet our lives look like the only thing we fear is coronavirus… then we deceive ourselves

We are living a lie if what we say doesn’t line up with how we act

There’s a word for that… hypocrisy

Integrity on the other hand is living in a way that reflects what you say

See the virgins had a role to play. It was their responsibility to wait for the groom to return with his bride. THey would then join the processional into the feast as a part of the wedding party

The problem was not that the 5 virgins didn’t think the groom was coming… its just he was taking too long

They presumed that they had more time

They weren’t expecting him back in the middle of the night

Had they expected him to be back, they would’ve brought oil like the others

It’s not in the middle of the crisis that people forget God… it’s in the mundane drudgery of everyday life

In the midst of the distractions of everyday that we think… we’ll get our lives together at some point

One of the blessings of tragedy, of chaos, of pain… to quote C.S. Lewis is that it is the megaphone to rouse a sleeping world

We are atuned to the things of the spirit when we think we hear the trumpet… when we think the world is coming to an end

The problem is that when that impending doom is replaced by years and years… we begin to live our lives as though we have time. Or worse, like we don’t really believe that a time is coming

Until it does

until our hour comes like a thief in the night

I did a funeral for a young lady who was murdered. She was a newly wed. She thought she had all the time in the world

I’ve done funerals for saints who never expected to make it to the ripe old age they made it to

The commonality is that we never know when that time comes

Whether Jesus comes or calls

We have to truly believe that we will stand before him

We can’t get caught lacking, slipping, sleeping

We have to stay ready

Stay on mission

Remember it’s not always the fastest out the gate that win the race. But the one that endures. That continues. That digs in because they know that there is a goal and they are striving toward it

We have to believe that Jesus will be coming back

We have to live now in preperation.