Online Sermons
26 Pentecost: November 9, The Rev. Mark Eccles
During the Eucharistic liturgy we proclaim together, “Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.” With today’s readings in mind, I’d ask us to think about the last part of this affirmation, “Christ will come again.” Expectation of Jesus’ Second Coming has been in the Christian consciousness from the Church’s beginning. Today we recite in the Creed, “He will come again in Glory to judge the living and the dead.” As Christians, this is what we say we believe.
In today’s parable of the ten bridesmaids, Jesus emphasizes the necessity to watch and be prepared, as no one knows the day of the Lord’s coming. When you and I hear this story we may be puzzled and wonder what is going on with ten bridesmaids running around with lamps in the middle of the night. However, Jesus’ audience would have understood because his parable is taken from a slice of everyday life in Palestine. It reflects a Jewish custom in which the bride and groom do not go away for a honeymoon, but instead stay at home and have an open house for a week of festivities to which their chosen friends are admitted. Prior to the festivities the groom and his friends take the bride from her home and take their time getting to the groom’s home. They may travel from one town to another. There was no set time for the wedding party to arrive.
The bridesmaids were young women from both families who would attend the bride when she arrived, so they had to be vigilant and be ready. The groom would send a man ahead in the street to shout, “Behold, the bridegroom is coming!” but that could happen any time, even in the middle of the night. And when the bridegroom arrived and the door was shut, late-comers were not admitted. So with this background we see Jesus’ describing circumstances which made sense to those who heard him speak.
What do we take from this parable? This is one of three parables in Matthew about the coming of the Son of Man for final judgment. We see in the wedding banquet a metaphor for the kingdom of God, and the in bridegroom the agent through whom God’s work is completed, a common image in the New Testament. For Matthew’s post-Resurrection community the bridegroom is the Risen Christ, whose return in glory is expected at any time.
One commentator pointed out a couple of meanings in this parable. First, there are certain things which cannot be obtained at the last minute, for example a student can hardly start preparing for a test once the examination day has come. It is easy to put things off in life, including not giving ourselves time to get to know God. Secondly, the parable warns us that certain things cannot be borrowed. The foolish bridesmaids found it impossible to borrow oil; likewise, we cannot borrow a relationship with God. Each of us along the way needs to take ownership of our faith.
For me, the overall point of the story is that we are to be diligent and constant in following Christ, and in doing so we are prepared for him. The parable calls us to responsibility and readiness. But this call is not given in the sense that God hopes to catch us off guard so we miss the boat if we stumble or fall short, but rather as our call to live in response to the faithfulness and love that God offers us.
The theme of the Second Coming is found also in our Epistle. Paul’s letter reflects the early Christians’ expectation of Jesus’ imminent return, within their lifetime. But Jesus had not yet returned and they were concerned about those who had already died, wondering if they would miss out on the glory of the resurrection. Paul assures them that the Second Coming will be for those who are alive and those who have died – he is coming for all. Paul includes a poetic picture of Jesus’ coming again, an image intended to convey something which is indescribable. When we read Paul’s word picture about the Lord descending with a shout of command, the archangel’s voice, the shout of the trumpet of God, all being caught up in the air to meet the Lord, it captures our imagination – that’s what this kind of literature is supposed to do.
In contrast to seeing this apocalyptic language as imagery, some along the way started to take it literally. Less than two hundred years ago the idea of the rapture was invented, the teaching that Jesus would return for his true followers and sort of snatch them up to heaven, leaving the rest of humanity to face what may come. This is a popular notion today in books, movies and among many American Christians.
A famous example of this sort of teaching was William Miller’s back in the 1800’s. From the Bible he calculated and taught that Jesus would return on October 22, 1844. On that date, tens of thousands of his followers in Massachusetts donned white robes and climbed trees and mountains to speed their ascension into heaven. Some had dug graves, and just stood in their graves expecting Jesus to take them away. Needless to say, some reinterpreting of Miller’s predictions quickly followed. Actually, Miller’s teachings still are alive today in the Adventist tradition.
Anyway, back to St. Paul. The assurance we can take from his words is that in life and death nothing can break our union with Christ. The instruction we can take from this lesson is that we are to be ready, be prepared. As to how we can be ready, how we are to prepare, our Old Testament lesson helps us think about this.
In Joshua we find Israel finally arrived in the promised-land of Canaan. Joshua calls the people to covenant again with God, to put away their false Gods and their idols which had been stumbling blocks along the way, and to serve only God. We read Joshua’s famous words: “Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; ….. if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day who you will serve, whether the Gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house-hold, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:14-15).
Joshua knew the problems worshiping false gods and idols had caused. Idolatrous practices were the established, culturally accepted ones in the world surrounding Israel. Perhaps this is no less a danger for you and me today. Our American culture has many “false gods” and “idols” clambering for our devotion: wealth, prestige, success, power, self-sufficiency. When we think about it most anything, even inherently good things, can become distorted in our perception and distract us from what’s most important in life. Perhaps we each must always ask: “Is something or someone more important to me than my relationship with God? To what or whom do I give my ultimate allegiance?” Our answers are eternally important.
Also, just as Joshua stepped up publically to serve the Lord, so we prepare for the Lord by serving him. We do this when we serve others in his name, by feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, visiting those in prison, loving one another with the love of Christ, seeing Jesus in every person we meet. This is our responsibility, and our privilege.
This morning we have considered Jesus’ Second Coming, the coming Kingdom of God, and the importance of being ready. But I leave you with another thought as well. You and I live in sort of an “already but not yet” time. In a real sense the Kingdom of God is already here, ushered in by Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection. In Jesus we already have acceptance, forgiveness, new life. We will not be introduced for the first time to Jesus when we die or when we comes again; we’ve met him in our baptism and know him through the Holy Spirit. When our hearts are open we see Jesus today in our everyday life and ministry, in the faces of strangers, of those we meet and work with, in each other. Maybe, if we pay attention, we see Jesus’ image when we look at ourselves in a mirror.
Today it is good to watch and be prepared for the Lord’s coming and for God’s Kingdom in all its fullness, the picture we see in the book of Revelation – a new earth where tears are wiped away, where death will be no more, and mourning and crying and pain will be no more. And at the same time we work to bring about this Kingdom of God today, step by step, by acts of love and charity, sharing the Good News of Christ with others.
As Christians we need not be afraid of whatever the future holds for us – we can look forward to it. We are people of Good News, of hope. This morning this Good News and sure hope is evidenced as we give thanks for the baptism of Dax Allen Dalecky. Little Dax will be born again, born in the spirit. He will become a child of God in a new way. No longer is he part only of the Dalecky family, but this morning is welcomed into the family of God. In Christ he will have nothing to fear – he will always be safe in Jesus.
This morning we give thanks that Dax and all who look to Jesus are safe in God’s care, now and forever. Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is with this sure hope that we can proclaim again together, “Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.”
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