Notes

The Lord be with you!
The Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost is also the first of the Sundays that follow after the festival of All Saints’ Day. These last few Sundays in the Church Year have readings that focus on some aspect of the Last Things. Since the Greek Word for last is eschaton, the usual theological category for last things is eschatology, or the subject is described as eschatological. To put it simply, the End has many things to consider, like the Last Judgment, the Glorious Return of Jesus, the Resurrection of the Dead, the New Creation, the Life Everlasting, and so on. This season’s teaching gives us a proper viewpoint of what all these Last Things mean for us, since in our day there are many opinions about the Last Things that may attempt to distract us from the one thing we must always treasure, whether the Last Day is tomorrow, or centuries still to come: that One thing is Christ our Savior, who has claimed us as His beloved bride, the Church.

Let us pray:
Lord God, heavenly Father, send forth Your Son to lead home His bride, the Church, that with all the company of the redeemed we may finally enter into His eternal wedding feast; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Amos 5:18–24
Is the coming Day of the Lord a good thing or a bad thing? God’s answer, which Amos gives us here in strong language is, both! For those who despise God’s Word, who think little about sin and forgiveness and eternal things, the Last Day will be a fearful, bitter day of sadness and gloom. For those who are despised by the world, who suffer at the hands of evil persecutors of the truth, those who through their struggles hang on in faith to the divine promises that have been fulfilled in Christ, for them the Last Day will be justice rolling down like waters, and a flood of righteousness whose stream will never fail.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18
We miss our loved ones terribly. They have fallen asleep in the Lord Jesus and are with Him, so that blessed truth is comforting for us to know that they are with Him and no longer suffering here. But there is something even more comforting than knowing that the saints who have died are in a better place! Even more comforting than that is knowing that we too shall join with them. “We shall always be with the Lord” says our reading. If it should happen that Christ returns and the world ends before our death, we still won’t miss out, for then we shall be caught up in the air to greet our Lord, with the blessed saints rising from their graves to meet Him with us. All of us caught up together, not in a secret rapture but in a majestic parade of triumph with a never-ending joy that is just getting started! That’s truly comforting.

Matthew 25:1–13
“Oh, where are ye, ye virgins wise?” That’s the call from the watchman singing his song from his post at the fateful moment when the Lord returns in glory. We want to be wise, to have oil in our lamps and plenty on hand so that we are ready for Jesus the Bridegroom when He comes. Jesus tells this story to impress upon us the importance of our faith in Him. This is not a lesson on when and how much we should share with others. We cannot believe for others’ sake. If they continue to refuse to believe in Jesus Christ their Savior for themselves, there is little more we can do for them spiritually than pray for them to realize their need to repent. But for us, we need not worry whether we are fully prepared for the Lord’s great Coming, because we hear His Word, we receive His forgiveness, we eat the Supper of His Body and Blood in Holy Communion. These precious gifts that we receive as often as we can, at the times when He comes in a hidden way every week, they are the oil in our lamps, that is, they fully prepare us for the Last Day, when He will come in an impressive and visible way.

Here’s hymn 514, stanza 2:
    There shall we see in glory / Our dear Redeemer’s face;
    The long-awaited story / Of heav’nly joy takes place:
    The patriarchs shall meet us, / The prophets’ holy band;
    Apostles, martyrs greet us / In that celestial land.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pr. Stirdivant

Sermon for the First Sunday after All Saints’ Day: November 8, 2020 jj
Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

Saint Gregory many centuries ago read Jesus’ parable about the wise and foolish virgins and then warned his congregation, “You should be very fearful and circumspect about the good things you do.” Of course, he didn’t mean that you should refrain from doing good to everyone, especially to those who are of the household of faith, for that is what St. Paul in fact urges us to do. And surely, it’s not that you should live as you please and so gratify the desires of your sinful flesh. On the contrary, the Apostle clearly instructs us, “Do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Gal. 5:13) And finally we are comforted in our doing good for others with these words from Galatians: “Do not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

So even though we have been given some time-tested advice to be careful about the good things we do, we still should not be discouraged from letting our light so shine before men that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven. The warning, however, stands as Gregory gave it: “You should be very fearful and circumspect (that is, deliberate and mindful) about the good things you do.” Why should you be fearful in doing what is good? The reason is that in doing good you might take comfort in the good that you do. The fear is that you might even take pride in what you do, and then expect to be rewarded somehow because of it. The fear is that you will dwell on those gracious works that the Holy Spirit has produced in you, to the point that you believe in yourself and some inner ability to do what is right. But above all, the greatest fear is that your opinion about the good you do will produce a false confidence within you. That as you approach the Almighty Lord on His judgment throne you may be tempted to present your good works and nice qualities as noble and worthy before the Lord, expecting that He will praise you for what you have done.

Now, if we are to learn nothing else from today’s Gospel, which is the story of the wise and foolish virgins waiting with their lamps for the bridegroom at the wedding feast, if you take nothing else home with you, learn and take to heart that the good you do cannot hold a candle to the brightness of Our Lord’s arrival or to the good that He has accomplished within you. In fact, compared with glory of the Lord and the living Light He is, what you do on your own that looks so good to you is as blackest night. In comparison against Christ’s works, your works that you do in hope for a Divine reward deserve to be thrown away into the darkness.

But you as a baptized child of God are not of the night nor of darkness. Christ has rescued you from the weeping and gnashing of teeth that you deserved. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. That means that Christ works within you, and the good you do is really the good that Christ does. It is pleasing to the Father not because you did it, but because God the Father is pleased with Jesus who is standing in for you, which is really a much better arrangement. So as we follow the direction of God’s Holy Word, may we who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.

For that is what the wise virgins do in today’s Gospel. Although they do something good and commendable, that is, prepare and wait for the coming guest of honor, they still place no confidence in themselves or in their good deeds. Rather, in their waiting they rely solely on the bridegroom, that is, the Lord Jesus and the good that He has planted within them. That is why they have oil aplenty. And that is why they are wise. Not because they were clever enough to stock up for the future. And not because they were shrewd in their dealings with the foolish virgins, refusing to let them have their extra oil. The point of this story is not supposed to be how nice it is to share with others. This is a matter of faith, not of Christian love. The wise in Christ’s example here are wise because they have the wisdom of the Lord. And with that wisdom, they trust not in what they have done but in what the Lord Jesus has done for them and they’re humbly thankful for what He accomplishes through them.

So whatever good the wise virgins do, they do not call their own good. Rather, the good they do they trace back to the Spirit of Christ who lives within them, since they stand for those who have been baptized into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They do not wait for the Bridegroom in this parable with the hope that they will be in the right place at the right time. They await the Bridegroom’s arrival with the expectation that He will make good on the invitation He has already issued. They wait with the confidence that they already share in His joy, even while at the moment they are standing in darkness with only a little lamp light in their hands, and they simply look forward to the full brightness of that joy in the near future.

The foolish, however, are those who hang around hoping to edge in with the others. Their hope is that they will be caught up in the crowd and swept inside with the others. And so these hangers-on pin their hopes not on the Bridegroom and His arrival, but on their own cleverness and their ability to make it happen. For this reason, they do not strain, like the wise, to hear the proclamation of the Lord’s coming. Instead, they chatter away, listening to their own self-motivating speeches, believing that in the end everything will work out for the best all by itself, without the Lord’s mercy making it happen.

I urge you today from this pulpit that you avoid your inner desire to live according to the flesh even while you do good to others and work hard for the betterment of your fellow man. For the desires of the flesh are not finally the debauchery and depravity that is so evident outside our doors. Ultimately, the desire of the flesh is pinning your hopes on anything you say or on the good deeds that you fervently believe will make things better. And the desire of the flesh is not to hear the proclamation of the Bridegroom’s Gospel, but to hear and believe in and rely on the feel-good self-improvement lies of this world.

Romans chapter 8 says, Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Therefore, my beloved, I urge you to live according to the Spirit by imitating the faith and constancy and perseverance in hope that the wise virgins exhibit in today’s Gospel. Live not by the dim light of your own good deeds, but live always by the bright light of Christ.

For it is His light, His Spirit, His faith, His righteousness which you received in the waters of Holy Baptism. And it is the lamp oil which He supplies you in the Blessed Sacraments that keeps His light burning within you. And upon the confession of your sins and inner desires, it is His declaration of absolution together with the proclamation of His arrival that enkindles your hope and raises your expectation to be united with your loved ones who have already fallen asleep in Him.

Let this light of Christ illumine the darkness of your heart, even as it illumines the darkness of this world’s night. Let this light, which is Christ dwelling in the Word that you hear and meditate upon at home, the Word planted within you by His Spirit, allow it to kindle in you the fire of love for God and for your neighbor. Let this light, which Our Lord Jesus Himself fuels and tends by His Sacraments, burn ever brighter unto the perfect day. Finally, and with circumspect fear, let this light of Christ so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Then, by God’s grace and grounded in His mercy, shall we behold and rejoice in the day, the hour “when we shall be forever with the Lord, When disappointment, grief and fear are gone, Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored…all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.” Yet at the same time, before our heavenly Bridegroom’s great second coming, we may by His grace meet here as often as we can around His blessed table of the Holy Communion.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Amos 5:18–24 Let justice run down like water
Psalm 70 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You
1 Thess. 4:13–18 the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout
Matt. 25:1–13 the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins