Come, you thankful people, come!

Posted on November 23, 2022 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Thanksgiving

Deuteronomy 26:1-11  +  Acts 17:22-31

The hymn we just sang, “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come,” is in the section of the hymnal entitled “Harvest and Thanksgiving.” It makes reference to the harvest, for which the thankful people of God give thanks. But, really, the “harvest” is an allegory, a picture of the harvest of souls that God is even now gathering into His garner, His storehouse, His harvesthome, which is His holy Christian Church, here on earth now, and, one day, in the heavenly mansions at the final harvest. Come, you thankful people, come! Raise the song of harvesthome! Come and give thanks to God, who is both our Creator and our Redeemer, our Savior from hunger and our Savior from sin, our Deliverer in this life and in the next!

We need no national calendar to tell us when to give thanks to God; it’s our daily duty to give thanks, to make our whole lives a continual sacrifice of thanksgiving. But it’s all right for us to allow our country to influence the theme of our worship today. In fact, our country depends on us Christians for it, although they don’t know it. Without our prayers of thanksgiving at Thanksgiving, the entire day would be nothing but an abomination to God, a detestable offering sacrificed on an idol’s altar. Without believers in Christ standing in the breach, God would surely wipe out this nation as He once did with Sodom and Gomorrah, because it has become just as godless as those ruined cities were.

Just as godless, you might say, as ancient Athens was in the first century. You notice, when the Apostle Paul visited that city, he didn’t gather the people there on Mars Hill, on the Areopagus, to have a banquet with him or to encourage them to give thanks to God with him. He gathered them together to expose their idolatry, to teach them about the God to whom they owed their thanks, and to urge them to seek refuge in Christ before the great day of judgment comes.

Paul began his sermon by observing that the people of Athens were very religious—far more religious, to be honest, than the people of our country today. He had walked around the city and seen all their statues and monuments to their gods. He had even found an altar that was labeled, “To the unknown god.”

“To the unknown god.” That’s like all the prayers that people offer up thanking “our Creator, whoever he may be.” That’s a useless prayer. As Paul makes clear in his sermon, it isn’t enough to know that there’s a God out there to whom you owe thanks. You have to know who He is, what He has done, and how He wants to be worshiped. As Paul says, God made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth. He does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.

Yes, this is the God who is to be worshiped, not nature itself, not a list of deities, and certainly not mankind or man’s science. It is the Creator God who is to be worshiped, the One who gives to all life, breath, and all things.

Still, after revealing God as the Giver of all things, Paul still doesn’t urge the Athenians, now, come, you thankful people, come! No, it isn’t enough to know God as the Giver. Paul just briefly touches on the history of the world, how God created all men from one blood, from one man and one woman, Adam and Eve. He wanted people to seek Him and to find Him. But Adam and Eve’s descendants went their own ways and created false gods for themselves. They became ignorant and godless as they formed nations and filled the earth. And so Paul warns them, now God commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.

Repent of your sins! Repent of your willful ignorance! Repent of your worship of anything and everything except for the true God—including yourself! Repent, because judgment is coming. And Jesus the Christ, crucified and risen again, will be the Judge.

Now at that point, most of the Greeks laughed at Paul and walked away, because, as he writes to the Corinthians, For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

But the Gospel of Christ has reached you here. You have heard the Word of God, declaring who He is, what He has done, and how He wants to be worshiped. He wants all people to confess their sins and repent. He wants all people to believe in His Son, who was put to death for our sins and raised again for our justification. You have heard. You’ve believed. And you’ve been baptized and brought into the New Covenant or Testament in the blood of Christ. The true God is not unknown to you.

And so you are not like the Athenians, nor are you like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, nor are you like most of your American neighbors. You are like Old Testament Israel as they were about to be brought into the Promised Land. God had already redeemed them, had brought them into His covenant, had provided for them along the way, and was about to bring them into that Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And so Israel, under the first covenant, was invited to come and give thanks to God after they were brought safely into the Promised Land. Moses called on them to recognize all the good that God had done for them, not just the daily providence that He gives to all, but especially as recipients of God’s covenant faithfulness, as we heard in the first lesson this evening.

The Lord has brought you to the brink of the Promised Land, to the borders of heaven. We’re just waiting for Christ to come and take us in. And even here in the wilderness, what has the Lord provided—in addition to life and breath?

He has given you His Word, from Genesis to Revelation, and He’s given you opportunities to read it, to hear it, to study it. He’s given you time, time to receive His Word, and a place to receive the ministry of it. He’s given us one another, and other fellow Christians (near and far) to help bear one another’s burdens here and to encourage one another as we see the Day approaching. He’s given you all kinds of spiritual gifts, so that you can serve Him in this life, and be lights in the world, and point others to God.

He’s given you family and friends and food in abundance, along with scarcity of these things at times, to remind you to attach yourself to Him above all things. He’s given you homes, and health, along with the ailments that make you long for a home beyond this life. He’s given you plenty of beautiful sunsets and beautiful weather, along with the storms and the extreme weather that reminds us that this universe is growing old like a garment and will soon be destroyed. He’s given you daily bread and all that that entails. And He’s promised to give it to you again tomorrow.

So, come, you thankful people, come! Raise the song of Harvesthome. Give thanks to our God for harvesting you from among the nations to be His own special people, and then give thanks for all His providence along the way to the Promised Land. And finally, give thanks for hope, for the sure hope of the harvest at the end of the age, the hope of inheriting that Promised Land that awaits the people of God, where the thanksgiving will be endless. Amen.

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Each Day in the Word, Wednesday, November 23rd

Posted on November 23, 2022 by Tom and Karen Klumb

1 John 2:18-29

18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

24 Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.

26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

“The Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come.” The Antichrist—the one whom St. Paul describes in 2 Thessalonians 2—had not yet come when John wrote these words. But already in John’s day antichrists—teachers who denied God’s Son had come in the flesh and paid for the sins of the world to justify believers—had come. They came from the church. These false teachers went out from the church but they were not of the church. Jesus foretold such men, calling them wolves in sheep’s clothing. They use the Scriptures, but mutilate them to fit their own teaching. They prophesy, cast out demons, and do wonders in Jesus’ name, yet did not know Him by faith. They deceive themselves and their hearers.

John’s hearers have no need of these men to teach them. He tells them, “Abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you.” Having heard the gospel from Christ’s apostle, they are to remain in what they heard from John, who heard the gospel from Christ. Through this gospel they received the Holy Spirit, whom John calls “the anointing.” “The anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you.” He doesn’t mean this an an absolute sense so that they need no one ever to teach them. He himself had taught them the gospel. Christ Himself “gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4:11). Since John’s hearers had received the Holy Spirit through His teaching and preaching, they were equipped to spot anti-christian teachings and abide in Christ’s gospel alone.

The world is still full of antichrists. Some have gone out from the church and revealed themselves. Others are still within the visible church, wearing the sheepskin as they teach a different doctrine than Christ’s while using Christ’s name. It is vital for all Christians to abide God’s Word and Christ’s doctrine, because there the Spirit teaches us the truth, leading us into faith in His promises and faith’s end: eternal life.

Let us pray: Give us Your Holy Spirit through Your Word, O Lord, that we abide in You and endure in faith. Amen.

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Each Day in the Word, Tuesday, November 22nd

Posted on November 22, 2022 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Jude 1-25

1 Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,

To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:

2 Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. 9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; 13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, 15 to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

16 These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. 17 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: 18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. 19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction; 23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
25 To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen.

Jude reminds us that in the church there are “ungodly men, who turn the grace of God our God into lewdness.” God’s grace is turned into lewdness—or an excuse for lewdness—when it said that God forgives all our sins regardless of repentance. God’s grace is also turned into an license for lewdness on the other side—when repentance and forgiveness are proclaimed but the new life in Christ is not encouraged, or it is said that it is impossible because of the sinful nature. These ungodly men defile the flesh with sexual perversions, reject authority, and speak evil of civil magistrates. They serve only themselves, their own bellies and their own egos.

To warn us against such men, Jude presents several examples of God’s judgment. He begins with God’s people. After bringing Israel out of Egypt in the exodus, God destroyed those who refused to believe in Him. Even the angels who rebelled and “did not keep their proper domain” have been reserved in everlasting chains for the final judgment. Sodom and Gomorrah serve as a type of the final judgment on the Last Day upon all who reject God’s word as Cain rejected God’s warning. These men, like Balaam they seek profit. Like Korah they seek prestige. God foretold their destruction in His Word, and even popular books outside of Scripture like 1 Enoch condemn them. From such men we must flee, lest they turn our hearts away from love of God and others toward license to sin.

As the world becomes more depraved and more ungodly men arise to lead more astray, Jude encourages you to build yourselves up in the most holy faith by adhering to God’s Word, praying in the Holy Spirit, and rooting yourselves each day in God’s love for you in Christ Jesus. Speak the truth to those around you to pull them out of the fires of sin, but do so carefully lest you yourself are tempted. Do all things with faith in Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and keep you faultless—righteous by faith—until His return in glory.

Let us pray: Keep us from stumbling, O Lord, and build us up in the most holy faith, that we may be faultless on the Last Day. Amen.

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Each Day in the Word, Monday, November 21st

Posted on November 21, 2022 by Tom and Karen Klumb

2 Peter 3:1–18 (NKJV)

1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

We are most certainly in the last days of this world. Scoffers walk according to their own lusts—for physical pleasure, power over others, prestige in their own eyes, riches, and the like. They imagine there is no end to this world, no judgment, and no return of Christ, if they believe there is a Christ at all. They see the fact that Christ has not yet returned as slackness. But what scoffers see as slackness, the eyes of faith see as patience. God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance”—contrition over their sins and faith in the gospel—so that they may escape the wrath to come when the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up and dissolved with fire and fervent heat.

Those who live lives of repentance—daily contrition over their sins and faith in the gospel—look forward to Christ’s return. “We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” In the new heavens and earth there will not be any unrighteousness—no sin, temptation, and no consequences of sin. The unrighteousness of this world will be destroyed in fire. The unrighteous themselves—unbelievers who do not have Christ’s righteousness by faith—will be eternally punished.

Since we look forward to the new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells, how should we we live? “Be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation.” We will be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless, by living lives of repentance. God justifies us by faith in Christ and gives us Christ’s perfect righteousness, which is without spot and blameless. Knowing all this is to come when Christ returns, be steadfast in faith. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by adhering to His Word and Sacraments, looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, give us your Holy Spirit to live as those who look for the new heavens and earth where righteousness dwells. Amen.

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The Christian’s important work of waiting

Posted on November 20, 2022 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year (Trinity 27)

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11  +  Matthew 25:1-13

Do you ever wake up in the morning, listen to the news of what’s going on in our nation and in our world, and exclaim, “What has happened to our country? What has happened to the world?” From our government to our schools, from our media to our entertainment, from our law enforcement agencies to the crime on our streets, from the strange worldview of our neighbors to the false teaching from pulpits that are called “Christian”—most of it seems to be not only godless, but entirely insane! What is the Christian to do?

Some get antsy. They think they have to do something, become Christian activists, fight for the country, fight for society, fight for some semblance of normalcy to return. But if you read the New Testament, you don’t find any of that, anywhere, especially in the words that prepare Christians for the end times and for the imminent arrival of Christ. What you find are encouragements to fight spiritual battles, against the spiritual forces of darkness. What you find are simple commands for Christians to live as children of light in the world, meaning, to live within your vocations with love for God, love for your neighbor, and especially, love for your fellow Christians. Beyond that, what you find are admonitions to do what Jesus teaches about in today’s Gospel, to do the important work of waiting—waiting for His return.

“But, things may get worse around us while we wait!” Yep, almost certainly. “Well, then we have to do something!” We have to do what Jesus has given us to do, don’t we? What does He picture for us in today’s parable of the Ten Virgins? He pictures His people, not fighting to fix the world, but waiting. But how we wait is very important. In fact, it will make the difference between entering with Him into His kingdom and being shut out forever, with the rest of the unbelieving world.

Then the kingdom of heaven—that is, the Christian Church—will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

The Church will be like a group of virgins, young, unmarried girls who are keeping themselves pure, who have been given an important task: to sit out near the road, near the location of the wedding hall, and wait for the bridegroom to arrive, so that they can join him with the light of their lamps for the final leg of his procession to the wedding hall. It was common in that culture at that time, so Jesus’ disciples could picture it easily for themselves.

In effect, the ten virgins in our Gospel represent all Christians. All ten are invited. The Gospel invitation has reached them. “Repent and believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, crucified, and risen from the dead, and coming again!” Now, we know that many who hear the Gospel invitation turn it down. They spend their lives refusing to repent of their sins, refusing to look to Christ for forgiveness, refusing to come and hear His preaching. We aren’t talking about them here. They are already lost. We’re talking about sinners who hear the Gospel and believe it, who make a beginning within the Christian Church. They have been baptized. They walk in communion with the Holy Christian Church. And they’ve all been given a task. Watch! Watch for the coming of the Bridegroom. Be ready to meet Him when He comes! In other words, Jesus is talking about people like us in this room.

What’s the difference between the five wise and the five foolish virgins, then? The five wise virgins think to themselves, “You know, He told us He’s coming tonight, but He didn’t tell us at what time. In fact, He told us He might be delayed. It might be late. He told us He will come like a thief in the night, at an hour when we don’t expect Him. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to bring along enough oil to last late into the night? Wouldn’t it be smart to make preparations, not only for an early arrival, but also for a midnight arrival? That way, we’ll be ready, no matter when He comes.”

The five foolish virgins didn’t think, didn’t listen when the Bridegroom informed them that He might be delayed. They went out to wait for Him, figuring He would come soon—soon by human reckoning, soon enough, at least, that they wouldn’t need extra oil for their lamps.

But what does it mean to bring along extra oil for their lamps? And what is that burning flame that they must all have in order to accompany the Bridegroom into the wedding hall? The burning flame is faith. Faith in Christ crucified and risen again, faith in Christ as the Savior from sin, faith in Christ as the sure refuge against wrath and condemnation, faith in Christ for the free-of-charge forgiveness of sins. It’s more than a knowledge of Christ. It’s a genuine reliance on Him, true confidence in Him and in Him alone, that for His sake alone, God will show mercy to you, who deserve only His wrath and punishment. Today’s Gospel gets at the heart of the matter, the actual thing by which we are justified before God and so permitted to enter His kingdom: faith.

But as Jesus warns in our Gospel and in the rest of Scripture, faith is not and has never been self-sustaining. The Holy Spirit kindles it in our hearts through the Word of God, brings us to trust in Jesus for entrance into His eternal kingdom. Faith comes by hearing! But if it’s then left alone, it will die out like any flame will eventually die out if it’s not given the fuel it needs to keep burning.

That fuel, the oil for the lamps, the spiritual milk that sustains and feeds our precious faith, is the Word of God—the Word as it’s preached, and taught, and spoken in connection with the water of Baptism and the bread and wine of Holy Communion; the Word as it’s then meditated upon and pondered.

The wise virgins are the Christians who make wise use of these Means of Grace now, while it’s available to them, as much as it’s available to them. They use the ministry of the Word regularly, and as they do, their faith sends down roots that grow deeper and deeper. Their knowledge of God and of His workings in the world and of His plan of salvation grows richer and richer. Their understanding of their enemies—the devil, the world, and their own sinful flesh—grows keener and keener. And their ability to stand in the face of hardship, trial, persecution, and opposition grows stronger and stronger. You will need all those things in order to endure the last times of this world before the Bridegroom comes. And they only come from the ministry of the Word. How much strength and knowledge and understanding and faith will you need to make it another year? Another ten years? How about 20 or 30 or 80—to make it all the way to the end, holding onto Christ by faith? Well, I don’t know. So the wise thing to do is to stock up, as much as possible. As much as the Lord provides. Even if you think you have a pretty strong faith now, it’s wise to make as much use of the ministry of the Word as possible, while you still can.

Just as it’s unwise not to. The foolish virgins are the Christians who think they stand firm. Who may be very excited, at first, to hear the Gospel, to have been baptized, to learn the Catechism, to receive the Lord’s Supper. They see the filthiness of the world and they’re ready for Jesus to come back. But then He doesn’t. And they keep waiting. And He doesn’t come. And so, they get bored with active Christianity; they get tired of waiting; they get distracted by all the things they can do here, since it seems like Jesus isn’t coming any time soon, and so, instead of continuing steadfastly in the use of the Means of Grace, they come to church less often, if at all, and their entire relationship with God is reduced to table prayers, if that.

And so the tragedy plays out. So many around the world don’t have ready access to the pure preaching of the Gospel or the right administration of the Sacraments. But many who do, take them for granted and don’t use them. They foolishly assume that what they already have in their lamps will be sufficient to keep their lamps burning when the Bridegroom comes, or maybe they’ll have time to go and buy more oil later on.

But that’s not how it turns out in Jesus’ parable, is it? The cry came at midnight, Look, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him! And only the five wise virgins, who had brought along extra oil, had enough left to keep their lamps lit. Only those Christians who will have used the opportunities the Lord will have provided to fortify their faith along the way will be able to meet Him and to enter eternal life with Him. The five foolish virgins found that their supply of oil was running out. It was insufficient. They scrambled to come up with some. They looked to their fellow Christians to share some of their faith, but it was too late, and that’s Jesus’ point. When the midnight cry is heard, when the trumpet sounds, when Christ actually appears out of nowhere, like an unexpected thief in the night, it will be too late to get ready. When Christ finally does comes down from heaven, He tells us ahead of time, that, at that time, there will be no more time, no more opportunities to have our faith fed and sustained by His Word, no keeping the dying flame of faith alive, and thus no entrance into eternal life, only the bleak reality of the Lord’s answer, Truly I say to you, I do not know you, followed by an eternity spent in outer darkness—the same fate as all those who never believed in the first place.

Five out of ten don’t make it all the way to the wedding hall. Is that really the percentage of Christians who won’t persevere in the Christian faith till the end? I don’t know. But it’s a sobering prospect, isn’t it? A sobering parable. But the fact that you’re here listening to it means that it isn’t too late. Jesus sends out this warning, and sends His Spirit to bring it home for us. And by the very act of listening to it, pondering it, considering it, you are adding a little more oil to your reserves, so that you can last a little while longer as you wait for Christ to come.

Take advantage of these opportunities to add extra oil—as many opportunities as you’re given— because you don’t know how soon or how late Christ is coming, and you may need every bit of strength from His Means of Grace to make it to the end. Never take what you have for granted, because there are Christians all around the world who would give every last penny to be where you are, to have the access that you have here in Las Cruces to the ministry of the Word. Learn the Bible. Learn the Catechism. Learn the Christian Confessions contained in our Book of Concord. Learn it a little better in the coming Church Year than you did in the last. As Paul wrote in today’s Epistle, Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, in order that, whether we are awake or asleep, we should live together with him. Amen.

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