The Last Sunday of the Church Year

Text: Matthew 25:1-13

+INJ+

Since the first production of the opera “Lohengrin,” a popular choice of music for brides to come down the aisle has been the well-known bridal chorus of “Here Comes the Bride.”

While this chorus is less popular today, Lutheran churches have typically avoided using it due to the pagan themes throughout the opera.

But more, the tune isn’t that happy.

It became famous due to its use by the British Queen Victoria in 1858 when her daughter proceeded down the aisle to marry the future German Emperor Frederick III.

But a strong reason not to use this tune also resides in the fact that the bride and groom in the opera die rather quickly after their nuptials as they go to the bridal chambers, the groom due to a sword fight with a rival and the bride due to grief.

The opera ends in tragedy.

Today, the Gospel also uses the image of a wedding. A wedding that is both joyful for some and ends in tragedy for others.

Today, we hear the parable of the Ten Virgins.

This alone is different from the weddings we experience today, where the bridegroom stands at the steps of the altar and awaits the bride’s arrival as the music plays. This practice originated from arranged marriages and the need for the father to give away his daughter into marriage.

No, in today’s Gospel, it’s the virgins waiting for the Bridegroom to arrive and bring these ladies into the marriage feast.

In contrast to today's weddings, the focus is not on the bride's arrival but on the bridegroom's arrival.

The question then for the bride or virgin maidens is, how are they or how will they be prepared for his arrival?

If you’ve been around a wedding, you know nothing ever goes exactly as planned. The music isn’t just right, someone doesn’t show, or another person is delayed.

That happens in the parable; the bridegroom is delayed. To make matters worse, there is also no communication as to when he will arrive.

The only thing to do is wait patiently for him.

And this is where the five wise and the five foolish virgins come into play today.

The reason for the five foolish virgins is that they did not possess the oil needed for the bridegroom’s delayed arrival. As the hours went on, the evening became darker, and they became sleepier.

However, the virgins deemed wise had the oil to burn their lamps when their bridegroom arrived.

So, let’s ask two questions now: what does the oil symbolize, and who is the Bridegroom?

The oil can be seen as man’s faith.

The foolish did not have faith for when the Bridegroom arrived, while the wise virgins did possess faith and readiness for the Bridegroom’s arrival, even in the dead of night.

But also, who is the Bridegroom?

It’s Jesus.

The question today then revolves around these words of the Creed, “And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.”

Are you prepared for this return of your judge on the last day?

This is challenging because we are not given a time for His arrival.

Rather, the Gospel said,

But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’

The cry at midnight reflects how Jesus’ return will not only be delayed, that is, not according to our time, but also without notice and warning. So, you must stay alert and prepared, not grow weary as the days go on, and the endurance of your faith will be tested.

The twentieth-century German theologian Hermann Sasse wrote, "Is the foolishness of the virgins not also our foolishness? Have we not become tired and sleepy in the light of the Christian faith? Have we not let the lamps of hope, with which we would escort the coming of Christ, go out?"

Hear these words of Sasse again, “Have we not become tired and sleepy in the light of the Christian faith?”

Do we take this faith seriously?

Sasse’s words imply that both the wise and foolish virgins are in the Church, but they are not equally prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom.

Likewise, as “the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out,” those Christians who have prepared for the coming of Christ rightly cannot share the oil of their faith with you.

This grieves us because we see how a husband’s faith cannot save a wife, nor can a mother’s faith save a child, or a child’s faith save a parent.

You must take this faith to heart and prepare for yourselves.

Otherwise, you’ll be as the foolish who have not enough oil, who come to the doors of the wedding feast desperate for acceptance, only to be told, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’  

There is no greater tragedy than to hear these words from your Savior, words of an eternal death.

So, how do you ensure you have the oil of faith needed to greet the Savior as shadows of this life lengthen? Or how can you support those closest to you in receiving this faith when it seems the Savior is never coming?

Come to where the Bridegroom meets you and where He has said He would be for you…

If you take a step back, the whole liturgy is an eternal bridal chorus preparing you to travel with lighted lamps and meet your Savior.

The song began as the angels rejoiced over you at your Baptism.

There, the pastor lit and hands you a candle, saying,

Receive this burning torch and keep your Baptism blameless, so that when the Lord comes to the wedding you may go forth to meet Him and enter with the saints into the heavenly mansion and receive eternal life.

The light of this burning torch (or candle) now means your entire life is one of preparation and waiting.

Each week, this liturgy leads and prepares you for the coming of Christ.

Think about this: You enter and walk past the font, remembering the day the precious name of Jesus was placed upon you. In doing so, you remember how you received the light of Christ, which now abides and leads you to Him.

That Light abides with you as you hear His Word today, sing with the angels and archangels, and faithfully approach this altar to receive a blessed foretaste of the wedding feast to come.

For this reason, every Divine Service is an exercise of keeping watch for Jesus, participating in the eternal wedding to come, and ensuring you have received the oil of faith needed for that faithful day.

But until then, come, keep watch, and sing the bridal song of heaven with the saints. +INJ+

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Tomah, WI