Monday, November 23, 2015

Bridal care [Ultimate Sunday; St. Matthew 25:1-13]

On this, the final Sunday, we once again find ourselves faced with the End of all things as Jesus returns one final time and says to you today,
“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.”

The hymn of the day, which you just sang, is a wedding hymn. The wedding hymns which we sing, reveal a Bridegroom and a Bride. There is nothing about love, care, equality, vows, or commitment.

You all used to be in agreement that marriage was about Christ and the Church, but you didn’t like that, so marriage has become what we make of it. When was the last time you heard hymns at a wedding? When was the last time you heard about Christ and not the couple, at a wedding? When was the last time there were virgins at a wedding?

You can say that it’s a sign of the times and you can say that it was better in the old days, but that is just an excuse. There were the same problems then as there were now, its just that the internet wasn’t around to air out every body’s dirty laundry.

The reason there is even a wedding in the first place is because there is marriage. The reason there is marriage in the first place, is because there is a Bridegroom and a Bride and they must get together, thus saith the Lord.

In God’s first words to Adam, He says that it is not good to be alone and so the first marriage was officiated and we could say that there was a wedding. That wedding was very plain. There was no reception, no vows made, no music, no mention of the couple doing a thing. There was only God and His Word.

Compare that to a modern wedding. The focus is on the couple for the wrong reasons. The focus is on their love for each other, their commitment to each other and their words to each other. We say it is “their day” and so whatever they want goes.

And boy does it go. At least most people still are getting married, to each other, as man and woman. There is no end to what marriage has become today, since it is just something we made up and nothing to do with God at all: same sex couples, three or more people, relatives, animals, inanimate objects.

It is time to separate the permanent from the passing. To burn away the chaff. To say to the world, “You have taken what is God’s and have run too far with it.”

But, you don’t. You don’t want to get rid of anything that is fun, or that your friends think is fun, or that you’ve been taught is fun. You are the foolish virgins who not only fail to bring oil, but turn instead to the worldly merchants to determine what is valuable and what is not.

Repent. The true pain of being turned out to the merchants is that your lamp is not good enough to hold true faith. The real disappointment of trying to prepare yourself for God is finding out that everyone falls asleep. Even you.

Yes our lamps go out and we seek other means to light them. Similarly, we get bored of waiting and watching the same old weddings day in and day out, that we need to spice things up a bit, even going so far as to leave the church out altogether.

The point is, we are not supposed to be involved in Church. We are not supposed to be able to participate in weddings, marriages, or even births of other humans. These things all belong in the realm of the divine, for God has created all these and He still takes care of them.

What you miss in all things is the Bridegroom. There is only a Bride, because there is a Bridegroom. In this case, the reason there is marriage at all is because of Jesus and His Bride, the Church. The only reason there is any cause for celebration is because the Bride was dead, but now she is redeemed.

The 10 virgins are not praised for their lamps or the amount of oil in them. They are not even praised for staying awake. They are praised by being in the presence of the Bridegroom. The fact that any of this takes place, is all because of Jesus.

You see, when Jesus gave Adam and Eve in holy matrimony, He wasn’t simply bored and thought, “hey, this oughta be fun to see.” He was showing us Himself and what He was about to do. However, where Adam and Eve enjoyed their experience, Jesus did not have a pleasant wedding, by earthly standards.

For one, Jesus had to coordinate His own party, which consisted of enemies and false accusers. Then, He had to make His own garments, which happened to be His own blood. Thankfully someone else made the decorations: crown of thorns and the cross, but He did have to give Himself away and give His mother away.

You have a Lord who became man, suffered, and died so that you would know that He is a man, that He has created a Bride, the Church, and that they are married. In Love, Jesus gave us marriage and by grace He lets us participate in it.

In Christ, you are given god-like powers. You are allowed to give birth; to create! You are allowed to get married, a state reserved only for Jesus. You are even allowed to forgive and be forgiven.

In Christ, we worry not about lamps, for Jesus has filled ours to the brim. He has filled our lamp, filled our reserves, trimmed them, and stays awake for us. His wonderful gift of salvation ensures you that His Church will be at the right place at the right time.

For, remember, this is the Church getting hitched and you are a part of the Church, by baptism. Therefore, where the means of Grace go, there the Church goes. Where the Church goes, you go, for we follow the voice of the true Shepherd: “Take and eat”.

Where our attempts at godliness fall far short, Jesus has completed these for us. You don’t have to worry about imperfect ceremonies angering God. You simply have to rejoice in what Jesus has given to you and be thankful that marriage is not what you make of it, but what Jesus perfects it as.

You neither know the day nor the hour, but the Bridegroom knows you and has put His Name upon you, clothing you with His wedding garments. You are already a guest at the feast; you are already a participant, not in the work-up to it, but in the completed victory celebration.

Amen. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

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