“The bridegroom delayed and they all got drowsy and fell asleep.” (St. Matthew 25:5)
In the name of Jesus. Amen. Oil, and oil, and then some! Jesus fills our lamps with oil today and shows us the open door to the marriage Feast of the Lamb, in His kingdom which shall have no end.
Eternal life is ours. The Feast is given to us as gift. The Bridegroom comes and finds us awake with burning lamps.
Could God really be this much for us? Don't doubt. He is.
Why? Certainly not because you are made of better stuff than others around you! What makes the wise virgins wise is not something inside them either. They are made of the same stuff as the foolish virgins. All the waiting virgins fall asleep, both the wise and the foolish.
What glorious news for sinners! The call to arise goes out to those who are no different than the next sleeping virgin. Wise and foolish together are asleep. The call goes out to you.
The key is the oil. The foolish virgins are foolish because they reasoned they had enough oil all by themselves. They had bigger and better things to do than to prepare for the Bridegroom's return.
You know that on your own you don't have enough of anything that pleases God. You aren't just lacking oil for your lamp, you lack anything that you could present before Almighty God. Everything that you have ever done wrong—all your darkness and evil deeds—were forgiven on the Cross.
He gives His gifts, His oil, and fills your lamp. He fills your lamp, and then He fills it again. His Word delivers eternal life to you. Then, He does it again in Baptism washing all your sins away. He gives oil and then He gives more!
And if there were any doubt who you are, there is His Feast. Every Sunday, you eat and drink the very Feast you will eat on the Last Day with the Bridegroom. In His Supper, He comes to you. He comes and opens the door and gives you a little taste of what is to come. He feeds you all of His Feast. He gives you oil enough and more to light your lamp unto eternal life.
Don't be foolish. Don't reason that you can get by with just a little Feast here and a little Feast there. Don't pit His oils against each other, as if you have just enough of His Word, His Baptism, or His Feast to last you until He comes.
There is never enough of our Lord's gifts for you, there's always more. You need more Christ crucified for you. He gives you everything He has to give - even His Son. Then, He delivers that forgives to you again and again. Oil, then more oil. That's the way of faith and that's the way of the wise virgins.
Again and again, oil and then more oil! And then, just when you think you can't possibly get given to any more – He'll top off your lamp with even more oil. He fills our lamps with oils this morning and shows us the open door to the marriage Feast of the Lamb, in His kingdom which shall have no end. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
“In mansions fair and spacious Will God the feast prepare And, ever kind and gracious, Bid us its riches share. There bliss that knows no measure From springs of love shall flow, And never-changing pleasure His bounty will bestow.” (TLH #67, v. 6)
Other readings this week: St. Matthew 25:1-13, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, Isaiah 65:17-19
Higher Things Reflections are written by Rev. George F. Borghardt III, Assistant Pastor at St. Mark Lutheran Church, Conroe, TX.