Hope in Life and Death

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With the end of the church year, our Scriptures move towards all kinds of conversation about the end times, beginning this week with a parable about ten virgins awaiting the bridegroom. There are ten of these virgins, five foolish and five wise. As soon as we hear this categorization, our minds immediately go to: “Hmm, which one am I?”

Let’s take a step back and talk about Law and Gospel. The Law shows us our sin and tells us what we ought to do. The Gospel shows us what Christ has already done. The proper distinction of Law and Gospel in our teaching and hearing of God’s Word is very important. More on this on Sunday. In preaching of parables such as these, often the Law and the Gospel become muddled. A sermon on this parable might go like this: “Are you prepared? If you aren’t, Jesus is going to slam the door shut on you. You must prepare yourself. How close are you to God? Are you actively seeking God every day? How are you doing in matters of love and faith?”

This is a sermon that preaches this parable according to the Law as a moral lesson. Each question points to you and what you should and should not be doing in order to secure your place at the wedding feast and ensure that Jesus will let you in. How do you think teaching like this informs our understanding of faith? How does a sermon like this inform our understanding of who God is?

When Amos prophesied to Israel in Amos 5:18-24, we hear that Israel was gathering together, offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, singing songs and playing beautiful music on their harps. They were doing all the right things. They believed they were checking off all the boxes. Jesus spoke in a time when religious observance according to the law was believed to make a person right with God. The Pharisees created all kinds of hedge laws to make sure they didn’t even get close to breaking the law.

How did God address Israel through the prophet Amos? What did Jesus say throughout the gospel accounts to the Pharisees and in this parable of the ten virgins?

Israel lacked justice and humility and practiced idolatry while claiming to be God’s people. The Pharisees neglected the poor and needy and bolstered their own pride while claiming to be God’s people and the religious authorities of the time.

Let’s stick to the text: Ten virgins. Five with oil. Five without.

The way to enter the kingdom of heaven, to enter the wedding feast, is through faith in Jesus Christ. It is through the saving faith gifted to us by God through the Holy Spirit working through God’s gifts of Word and Sacrament for our Salvation. Preparedness to enter God’s Kingdom is not about my works, my merit, or my ability to get myself ready. Instead, we rejoice that in Christ, God welcomes us to the wedding feast. We participate in that reality today every time we eat at the table of Christ’s body and blood, and we will participate in that reality in all its glory when Christ comes again.

Living in that reality today means that we do not need to act out of fear of Christ’s slamming shut of the door. We don’t need to tear other people down or act in such a way as to bolster our pride and assurance of salvation. We find that assurance in the crucified and risen Christ. Instead, we live in love and justice, serving and loving our neighbour in word and deed, and by doing so, we witness to Christ who reigns over all things with love and justice.

How do we prepare for the Kingdom of God? How do we prepare to die? We rest in the promises of God in Christ Jesus. We devour the Scriptures where God works to strengthen and sustain our faith. We feast at the supper of the Lamb, where we receive God’s gift of forgiveness and life. We cling to our baptism, where God seals us with the Holy Spirit and gives us Christ’s righteousness. In life and death, Christ is our hope.

Bring your questions as we wrestle with these tough texts, asking the Holy Spirit to guide and nourish us!

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