Loyal, OK

 
Pastor Leon Seaton

"Be Prepared" - The Parable of the Ten Virgins

Matthew 25:1-13

The person that remains prepared for God’s intervention in his/her life a vital part of their daily routine will live a less stressful life. God loves to direct our lives, but we have to let Him.  

In this parable Jesus emphasizes the importance of being ready for His return at any time. (Verse 13)  Personal preparation and responsibility are very important.

When you are interpreting a parable, remember that it is designed to make one or two points. Otherwise we read too much into it and do an injustice to the teachings of Jesus.

 “God has no grandchildren,” so we simply cannot get to heaven on momma’s apron strings. Salvation does not come by hanging out in a church – even if you go every Sunday and put money in every offering. In fact, you may be a teacher, a pastor, a deacon, an organist, or the best housekeeper that ever volunteered to clean the church and still miss heaven. Certainly these are wonderful roles and God is honored by our faithfulness. However, good works are not the path to salvation; they merely reflect that we are on the path!

The only way to heaven is making Jesus Christ your Savior and Lord. Nothing else works!

In this parable, we find ten bridesmaids waiting for a wedding reception. Their lamps were trimmed and burning brightly. (No battery powered lamps in those days!) The weddings in those days did not go by the clock. Nowadays the wedding starts at 8 pm and ends 30 minutes later. Pictures take another 30 minutes and then everyone goes to the reception. This one took a lot longer! The role of the bridesmaids was to celebrate the arrival of the wedding party.

Finally, midnight approached and the wedding party had not yet come. The bridesmaids lamps were almost burned out and they were taking a nap. Suddenly someone shouted, “Here they come! It won’t be long now!”

Startled awake the ten bridesmaids began to trim their lamps. They had to work fast to be ready. Five of the girls were well prepared; they had enough olive oil… and just a little extra. The other five had not planned ahead. Turning to their friends they asked for help, but there was very little extra, certainly none to share. “You will have to go to the sellers and purchase your own.”

Not many stores are open at midnight. When the five foolish bridesmaids finally returned the celebration was under way. The doors were locked for safety.

They banged on the door, pleading for entrance, much like the people in Noah’s day banged on the ark asking for entrance. But it was too late! The groom said, “I don’t know you!”

Luke 18:8-14 asks a powerful question:

Verse8: “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

Then He speaks to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:  “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector: The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'  I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

The bridesmaids in our first parable failed to prepare. Now the Christian journey is not about buying enough oil for our lamps. Instead it is a journey focused on a loving personal walk with the God of the universe. God is not impressed with our good looks, by our talent, by our wealth, by our wise words, or anything else that we are or can do or have done. Why? Because He created us! Everything you and I have is a gift from God.

What pleases God is the way we use His gifts. This is best illustrated by the farmer that had a beautiful farm. It featured rolling hills, green pastures, fantastic wheat fields, a beautiful garden, barns and a great house. The grass was mowed, the fences were straight and everything had a new coat of paint.

The new pastor stood in awe at everything the farmer had – and if the truth were known, he was just a little bit jealous.

The preacher went on and on about how much the Lord had blessed the farmer with his beautiful farm. The farmer appreciated what God had done, but felt that he deserved a little credit as well.

Finally the farmer put his hands in the bib of his overalls and said, “Well, tell you what, pastor, you should have seen this farm when God had it by Himself!”

Last week our guest speaker shared several stories with Roberta and me about her ministry in Guatemala. Their team goes twice a year. Kari said that she seldom has the money to go until just at the last minute. One trip she had bought the airplane ticket, but did not have the $500.00 she needed for the trip. Just a few days before they left she opened their mailbox. In it was an envelope – no address, no stamp, just a sealed envelope with the word “Guatemala” printed on the envelope. In the envelope was $500 in cash. God used someone to provide.

Last week God used us for some of her provisions for the next trip. Her dad has purchased the ticket; your generous offering will help cover the other expenses.

The parable of the wise and foolish virgins is a warning to be ready for the Day of Judgment, Christ’s return… or our own death. Someday everyone will have to give a personal accounting to God for how we lived our life on earth. The Apostles' Creed states that, "Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead."

However, let’s not limit our readiness to our final hour or the last judgment.

Sometimes we encounter Christ in unexpected ways – probably more often than we think. By remaining sensitive to the Holy Spirit we will always be listening! We need oil in our lamps at all times, not just at the end of time.

Every sports team has to be prepared to win at all times. Basketball practice for the sake of throwing a ball at a hoop is ineffective, but if the focus is on winning the game the ball will travel with more speed and a sure aim. If you doubt that, watch the team doing warm-ups. The bench sitters look bored, the starting team is focused. Poor practice is followed by poor playing and empty trophy cases.

Being stressed is not helpful either….  

A wise person will plan for the future. If you can’t afford a little extra money for gas because of our current fuel crisis, you need to take an accounting of where your money is going.

We all have emergencies, but God has promised to meet all of our needs. But He needs our cooperation!

What would happen if the phone rings and it's the hospital calling because your son/daughter has been in an accident and all your plans for the future are suddenly destroyed. How can you face it? This is not the time to run off and get some oil. There’s no time to prepare. (Some of you have been there.)

The bridegroom cometh! What happens when your job goes south, your company closes and you have no other job skills? Are you spiritually prepared to deal with this, or will you crumble in a heap on the floor? If you have spiritual oil your relationship with the Lord will take you through every tough time. Some of us have been there.

Think for a moment about our old friend Job. Wow! What problems he had. And he asked God why… The word “why” appears 28 times in 24 verses in his book. But God never answered the question. Finally Job got his mind off his problems and on God. That is when everything finally came together. When he forgave his friends and prayed for them, God restored everything – with plenty left over!

What, then, is the Answer? What does it mean to have oil in our lamp?

It boils down to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It boils down to living a life of spiritual discipline, of walking in close fellowship with God. It is holding the scriptures in high esteem. We study them; we apply the teachings to our heart and life. In other words we do what God tells us!

It’s saying no to temptation.

It’s speaking the truth in love – and in God’s time.

It’s learning to recognize the presence of Jesus in our lives, in our homes, and even in the difficult times.

“Make me a Blessing” is a wonderful song. However, if our vessel is full of oil, if our lives have been touched by God we are a blessing. The power of God was on Peter so much that when he walked down the street if his shadow passed over people they were healed! Not by the shadow, but by God’s power. (Acts 5:15)

Personally, I would like that power… but it came at a high price. Peter had to allow the Holy Spirit total access to his life.

Being prepared should be a way of life for us. Many years ago my Dad told me, “Leon, it costs no more to drive on the top half of a gas tank then it does the bottom half, and it is a lot less stressful.” And I thought, “Well, Dad, that’s easy for you to say. I just hope this tank lasts until payday! Obviously he had more money than I did. For a while our finances were so poor that several times when my folks came to visit us I had to run to the store to buy more soap for the bathroom. I was too embarrassed to let him see the little scrap of soap we were using.

Major General Cecil Richardson is the chief of Chaplains for the United States Air Force. He told a story about their early days of marriage – while college students. Times were tough. They were eating 17-cent boxes of macaroni and cheese and 9 cent a pound chicken backs so they could pay their bills.

One day they ran out of money, so he told his wife, “I’m going to the lake to catch food for supper.” He caught two fish. One was about 6 inches long, and the other one was “much smaller than that.” They prayed a blessing over that food just like they would have prayed if it had been a 4-course meal… and they thanked God for His provisions.

The very next day he got a letter from a man that he had sold a car to two years prior to that. He signed over the title and the man simply disappeared! In that letter was a check for $600. The man stated that he could not sleep until he mailed the check.

From then on, every time things got difficult his wife would smile and say, “Remember – two fish!”

You see, the bank account was empty… times were tough… but they had oil in their vessel!