Sunday, January 11, 2009: Jesus Is Coming. Look Busy!

Jesus Is Coming, Look Busy!
Matthew 25: 1 – 13 and 2 Peter 3: 8 – 9.

I. Introduction.

One of Jesus’ most common methods of teaching was to tell parables…These were stories, based on ordinary occurrences, which illustrated a spiritual truth…usually something about the Kingdom of God.

At this point in Matthew, Jesus told 3 parables related to the End Times, or the Second Coming of Christ. Each parable has the same basic theme:

1) Parable of the Faithful Servant (Matthew 24: 45ff.)…The master left one servant in charge while on a journey. It was important for this servant to carry out masters orders because he did not know when he might return.

2) Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25: 14ff.)…The master went on a journey and divided assets among 3 servants. The 2 who put the master’s money to work and earned extra money were rewarded. The one who hid the master’s money and didn’t even earn interest was punished.

3) Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25: 1ff)…

The focus of this parable is same as in the others: Be Prepared. Be Ready for the coming of the Son of Man. Be in a constant state of readiness.

In other words, Jesus is coming, Look Busy!

Read Matthew 25: 1 – 13.

Within this parable there are several “obvious” symbols / allegories.

1) Bridegroom = Christ. . .cf. Mt 9:15 (only other occurrence in Matthew)
2) The coming of the bridegroom = delayed return of Christ.
3) Wise Virgins = Faithful People.
4) Foolish Virgins = Unfaithful People.
5) Wedding Feast = Final Judgment.

The story describes a common scene that would take place at a First Century Jewish “wedding feast.” After the legal proceedings had taken place, the bride would return to her parents’ home & the groom to his parents’. Both the bride & groom would be dressed as if they were prince & princess, complete with robes & crowns. Then the groom would travel to the bride’s house to get his new wife.

Then the bride & groom would proceed to their new home accompanied by all their family and friends. This processional was nothing short of what we think of as a parade…marching, costumes, music, dancing, and Shriners’ driving around in those little cars.

When the wedding parade arrived in the bride & groom’s new home, a wedding banquet was held in their honor.

Often, there would be some friends and family members who might not want to make the entire journey, but would want to participate in the feast and at least part of the parade. These friends would wait along the roadside until the wedding parade passed by. There, they would join the parade the rest of the way to the banquet. And that describes the parable that Jesus gave his disciples.

There are some translations that use the word “bridesmaid” instead of “virgin.” The Greek word used here is the word that is literally translated “virgin.” So, there is no reason to think that these ten young women were an official part of a wedding ceremony as we think of it today.
Ten young women were waiting on the roadside for the wedding parade. Five of these planned in advance and brought extra oil for their lamps. The other five only brought what oil was already in their lamps.

They weren’t sure what time to expect the parade…Perhaps it was a long journey…Or maybe the parade would make several stops along the way. Whatever the case, the young women had to wait for a return that they did not know the exact time.

As they waited, it got later and later. Eventually all the young women fell asleep. Fortunately, someone was awake to sound the alarm that the wedding parade was approaching. By this time it was midnight, and all their lamps were beginning to grow dim.

The wise women refilled their lamps with the extra oil they had brought. These women had actually anticipated a delay in the parade and wanted to be prepared. The foolish women, on the other hand couldn’t refill their lamps. They had to go to the markets and buy more oil at midnight. By the time they found a place to buy more oil, bought it and returned to the parade, they were too late to join the procession. In fact, they were too late to be included in the wedding banquet. All of this, because they were not prepared.

What can we learn from this parable? There are applications which are important to us even today as we wait on the eventual Second Coming of Christ. Let us learn from the example of the Wise Virgins. When Christ does return, let him find us Prepared and Waiting.

II. Prepared.

To be prepared for the Second Coming of Christ doesn’t mean filling your basement bunker with canned foods, bottled water & weapons. But if you do that, be sure to pack an old fashioned can opener. The electric ones do not work if there is no power.

To be prepared doesn’t mean that you should make a video describing the Rapture to your friends and family members who have been Left Behind.

To be prepared doesn’t even mean that you participate in activities that SUPPOSEDLY will speed up the Second Coming of Christ.

No, there is a preparation which is much more important. Jesus wanted his disciples (and us) to be SPIRITUALLY prepared.

Notice that the ten young women were described by two adjectives at the beginning of the parable…(Read v. 2)

Then, at the end of the parable, they were described differently…(Read vv. 10 – 11)
1) Wise…or Ready…these young women were welcomed into the wedding feast.
2) Foolish…or Others…these young women were excluded…they could not even get in the door.

Now, let’s take a closer look at what was going on in the scene at the door of the wedding feast…(Read vv. 11 – 12)

Does that sounds familiar? Does it sound like what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount (found in Matthew 7: 21 – 23)?

The same Greek word that is translated “sir” in Matthew 25 is translated “Lord” in Matthew 7. In both cases, the people who stood on the OUTSIDE of the door cried out, “Lord, Lord…” And, in both cases, the reply was, “I do not know you…”

Both of these passages teach the same lesson about the Kingdom of God. There is only one way that a person can be prepared. There is only one way a person can enter the Kingdom of God. It’s not by prophesying and preaching about Jesus…It’s not by performing miracles…It’s not by casting out demons…

All these things are good works, but good works can never prepare a person to enter Heaven. Not teaching Sunday School…Not by witnessing to hundreds and thousands of people…Not even by tithing…

The ONLY way to be prepared is to know the Bridegroom…The young women were not excluded because they ran out of oil. They were excluded because the Bridegroom did not know them!

Both stories illustrate the importance of having a real relationship with God through faith in Jesus. Those who are foolish and not prepared—Those who do not have that relationship with the Bridegroom—will be excluded just as the other young women were excluded.

III. Waiting.

This parable carries the same theme as the other parables Jesus told at this time, with only one exception. All parables focused on the importance of being prepared on the day that Jesus returns. Most of these parables focused on the importance of being prepared in case Jesus returns earlier than we expect. However, the parable of the 10 virgins teaches us that we need to be prepared. Prepared for what? Prepared to wait! Even if Christ’s return takes longer than we at first expected.

That is an important part of Christian life…Waiting on Christ…Yet waiting does NOT mean we are supposed to fold our hands and do nothing! Waiting means we are to be faithful & obedient until Christ returns…To persevere in our faith.

There are two sides of waiting for Christ that are important.

1. We need to be prepared for a delay. Jesus may not come as soon as we think he ought to come. Just as Jesus prepared his disciples for a wait that might be longer than they expected, so he is preparing us even today. In Matthew 24, Jesus told his disciples that even the Son of Man—even Jesus himself—does not know the day or the hour of his return to this earth. So, if Jesus himself does not know the day or the hour of his return, then we have no reason to think any differently today.

2. We need to be ACTIVE as we wait. We need to busy ourselves with the things Jesus told us to do. Just like the faithful servant in Matthew 24 and the two faithful servants in Matthew 25, we need to do things our master wants us to do…even if he is delayed a long time.

Whenever there is war in the Middle East, there seems to be a fascination with the End of the World, the Battle of Armageddon, and the Second Coming of Christ. This was especially true when the Left Behind book series was popular. People sometimes ask questions like, “If a world-wide persecution of Christians takes place, will you be willing to give your life for Christ?” “If your life were required of you today, right now could you give it to God?” “If you were given a choice between renouncing your faith or dying because of your faith, which would you choose?”

There is an inherent problem with these questions. The problem is that these questions tend to depict a kind of decision that is different from what most of us will have to face. There is a better way of looking at this.

Sometimes we think that giving our lives for Christ is like taking a $1000 bill and plunking it down on the table…“Here’s my life. I am giving it all to you Lord.”

But the problem is, we don’t have one $1000 bill. We have $1000 in pennies…400,000 pennies. For most of us, God will not ask us to lay down one $1000 bill in obedience to him. Rather, we will be held accountable for the way we used all 400,000 of those pennies. Have you given all of your pennies for Christ?

This is what the Parable of the Ten Virgins teaches us. There may not be a time when all of your life is required of you at one time. But for all of us, God requires us to be FAITHFUL…To be Prepared by having a personal relationship with Jesus as Lord and Savior…To Wait ACTIVELY—fully engaged in the work Jesus commanded us to do…

What is the work Jesus wants us to do until he returns?

At this point, we could turn in our Bibles to Matthew 28 and read the last words Jesus gave to his disciples: “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.”

Or we could turn to another place in Scripture—2 Peter 3: 8 – 9, “But do not forget this one thing friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

IV. Conclusion.

Today is a special day in the life of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Our executive director has set the goal for our churches to share the Gospel with every person in the state of Texas by Easter Sunday 2010—Texas Hope 2010. Today is the day churches have been asked to commit to be a part of this evangelistic effort.

One way we can participate in this evangelistic effort is to distribute Scripture to every household in Angelina County. We can purchase CD-ROM’s for $1.00 that contain three things: an audio reading of John 3; a visual presentation of the Gospel; and a link to download the entire New Testament from the Internet in one of 300 languages.

Our Missions and Evangelism Team has recommended that we raise $30,000 to purchase these CD’s for our entire county. Then, we will work with other churches in Angelina County to help us distribute to every household. We want to do our part to share the Gospel and give everyone an opportunity to “come to repentance.”

When John F. Kennedy was campaigning for President, he often concluded his campaign speeches with this story…

May 19, 1780. . .Hartford, Connecticut.

At Noon the sun was covered by clouds. . .the sky turned from gray to black during the afternoon.

People began to fear that the world was coming to an end that day.

The Connecticut House of Representatives was in session. . .got to a point that they could no longer see. . .also began to fear the end of the world.

Until one of the representatives silenced the crowd with these words. . .

“The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish, therefore, that candles may be brought.”

The Parable of the Ten Wise Young Women teaches us much the same lesson. Either Christ is returning soon, or he is not. If he is not, then we should not stop our mission. If he is, then I choose that Jesus would find me faithfully obeying the Christian mission.