Sermon – "Yes, There Is A Judgment" Matthew 25:1-13
November 21st, 2005 | Tags: End Times, Judgement, MatthewClick play to listen to the audio version of this sermon.
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The cry went out, "Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet Him." And you showered and shaved. Put on some make-up. Got the kids up and dressed and got a little breakfast in you to hold you over and here you are. Welcome to the wedding reception of the bride and her groom. Where Jesus is the groom and His bride is you – His beautiful bride – His holy, Christian Church – beautifully adorned in pure white robes of unblemished righteousness, radiant holiness and vibrant love.
You have come here to meet the groom – your groom – your Lord. And He has not been delayed in His arrival. His presence was formally announced, "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." And just as He has promised, "wherever two or three gather in His name, there He is present." He is present with us here- at this place – at this time. And bride and groom united together in love – as one flesh. He uniting Himself to our flesh – we being united to His Spirit. United as one – and nothing can separate us. Where He goes, we go. What He suffers, we suffer. His house is our house. His food is our food. His joy is our joy. His peace is our peace. His victory is our victory.
Along the way here this morning, you undoubtedly passed many homes where those inside remained asleep. Asleep with no intention of being awakened to come and meet the groom. Many homes where the cry, "Here is the bridegroom, come out to meet Him," means nothing. Where they just roll over, pull the pillow a little tighter and mutter, "just those crazy Christians trying to impose their narrow-minded beliefs on us." "How ridiculous their whole religion is," they say, "where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the Fathers fell asleep all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." (2Peter3:4).
From every home ignoring the invitation, there was this cry coming back at you in response: "You fool!" And every Sunday morning it's the same cacophony of cries, each mocking you as you drive by – "You primitive fool you." "Don't tell me that you're still holding onto those pre-enlightened fantasies about a heaven above and a hell below and earth stuck somewhere in between. Haven't you heard how Copernicus destroyed your stupid theory when he discovered that the earth was not the center of the universe. How can you be so foolish as to still hold onto those medieval superstitions about a day of divine judgment when everyone must meet his maker. Are you so narrow-minded to actually believe that some will go to heaven and others go to hell based solely on faith in Jesus who justifies us? Haven't you heard that it's not God who justifies our existence but we who justify His? If you'd get rid of all that baggage you've been carrying around since confirmation class and learn to think for yourself you'd see that there is very little justification for God's existence. So don't bother me with your invitations and your testimonies. You do your thing and let me do mine- and my thing is to keep on sleeping."
And you say, "do you really hear all that when you drove to church this morning?" "Do you hear voices like that very often?" Yes, I do. And Peter heard them too. "Scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires." (2Peter 3:3).
And I'm ashamed to say that I have not responded the way I should. And neither have you and neither has this church. And I wonder why? Is it because we really don't believe what we say every Sunday – "He who sits at the right hand of the Father will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end." I am sure that even within this church there are those who say these words outwardly but reject them inwardly – because we have ceased to believe in a divine judgment. And we wonder – what's all the fuss about?
We sometimes wonder how something so insignificant and small as a single sheet of paper with 95 Thesis written on it could create such a fervent reaction from so many. And so many common, ordinary, unlearned people at that. People whom, in our far more sophisticated age refer to as "peasants." But to them who believed in the day of divine judgment before almighty God, to whom they would have to give an account for the life they had been given by almighty God – to them, the word that we have a gracious God who counts our sins – not against us – but against His Son, Jesus – to them – this was everything.
I wonder if the same 95 Thesis were published in the Boston Globe today whether it would get the same reaction? I doubt it. We have ceased to believe in a divine judgment. One theologian 200 years ago rightly said, "During the 16th century, the forgiveness of sins at least required monetary payment. Today it costs nothing; now men serve themselves with it. They at that time stood higher than we do; they were nearer to God than we are." (Claus Harms – Reformation Jubilee, 1817). He didn't mean that the idea of paying for sins with money was right. He meant that the idea that our sin doesn't need to be paid for is even worse.
So how are we to hear this parable about the 10 bridesmaids this morning? It is a very disturbing lesson that Jesus is teaching here. We have nothing in our experience to compare to this. A groom who arrives later than everyone expects him to and then refuses to let the guests who arrive late to enter the banquet hall. From outside the shut door they cry, "'Lord, open to us.' But He answered, 'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.'" What kind of man would do such a thing?
And what about those bridesmaids who didn't bring any oil reserves along with them. How could they be so foolish? And what about those bridesmaids who had plenty but who wouldn't share with the others? Surely there would have been enough that could have arrived together, even if the light grew dim.
This is a very strange and disturbing story that Jesus tells. Unlike anything that actually compares to our actual experience in life. And so let's begin by understanding that what Jesus is painting for us here is a picture of something we have no experience of. This is not about things we know but about things know not. He is showing us a picture of the last things that are not yet, but will be. Of the great Judgment Day which each of us will one day surely have the experience of.
"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to the bridegroom. Then we will see the wisdom of the wise maidens and the foolishness of the foolish ones. Then we will see that faith cannot be shared and everyone must believe for themselves. But then it will not be of any help to us. Then the divine patience will have come to an end. Then the door of the kingdom of heaven will be open for one and closed for another – forever and ever. Then he who is telling this parable, will speak the words that strike the worst of all horrors deep in our hearts when we hear them – "Truly I say to you, I do not know you." Or greatest of all joys when we hear them, "come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from creation." "Then and only then, will we understand this parable from experience.
So what then is the difference between the wise and foolish bridesmaids? It is simply this – five believe that the groom will come and five believe that he may not. Five believe that the whole thing could be a hoax – that it may not be true – that nothing really matters. They're betting their lives that after death its simply nothing for everyone – or mandatory heaven for everyone, except maybe Ghengis Khan, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.
Be very careful here. It is not your faith that makes things what they really are. The truth isn't false just because you don't believe it's true. Reality is real whether you believe it or not. The bread and wine of the Lord's Supper is the body and blood of Christ whether you believe it is or not. That's why Paul says that to eat and drink in ignorance is to eat and drink judgment on yourself. Faith believes what is true and what is real. And there is nothing more true and real than God's Word.
St. Paul preaches to the wise men of the Areopagus, who though they were wise were fools. "The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." (Acts 17:30-31).
Did you hear that? The risen one will be our judge. The one who died on the cross for the sins of the world and rose again on the 3rd day will be our judge. And the risen one says, "Behold, I am coming soon!"
And the wise bridesmaids say, "Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly!" "We are ready to meet you for you have taken away all of our sins and given us all of your righteousness. You have judged us by the cross and in your judgment you have reconciled us to the Father. We are ready to be have these filthy rags stripped off from us once and for all and we are ready to put on those white robes of glory that we will wear forever and ever. We are weary of the sorrow and suffering and death and we are ready for you to come with your new heaven and new earth where "no more shall be heard the sound of weeping and the cry of distress." We are ready to see you face to face and as You are and no longer hidden under bread and wine and water and word.
"Zion hears the watchmen singing, and in her heart new joy is springing. She wakes, she rises from her gloom. For her Lord comes down all glorious, the strong in grace – in truth victorious. Her star's arising light has come. Now come, O blessed one, Lord Jesus, God's own Son. Hail! Hosanna! We answer all in joy your call We follow to the wedding hall." (LW. #177)
Tags: End Times, Judgement, MatthewRelated Entries:
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» Holy Week – 2006
