Proper 27

November 9, 2008
Proper 27
Matthew 25:1-13
Lord, teach us wisdom

“Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people to seek more eagerly the help you offer, that, on the last day, they may enjoy the fruit of salvation.”

Introduction: There's a true story that comes form the sinking of the Titanic. A frightened woman found her place in a lifeboat that was about to be lowered into the raging North Atlantic. She suddenly thought of something she needed, so she asked permission to return to her stateroom before they cast off. She was granted three minutes or they would leave without her.

She ran across the deck that was already slanted at a dangerous angle. She raced through the gambling room with all the money that had rolled to one side, ankle deep. She came to her stateroom and quickly pushed a side her diamond rings and expensive bracelets and necklaces as she reached to the shelf above her bed and grabbed three small oranges. She quickly found her way back to the lifeboat and got in.

Now, that seems incredible - because thirty minutes earlier she would not have chosen a crate of oranges over the smallest diamond. But death had boarded the Titanic. One blast of its awful breath had transformed all values. Instantly - priceless things had become worthless. Worthless things had become priceless. And in that moment she preferred three small oranges to a crate of diamonds.

There are events in life, which have the power to transform the way we look at the world. Jesus' parable about the ten young women with their lamps offers one of these types of events, for the parable is about the Second Coming of Christ. But Jesus doesn't come right out and say this. Rather, he let's the story describe it for Him. The woman on the sinking Titanic understood, in the light of her current circumstances, that she must make preparations for living on a lifeboat.
Diamonds would not do, only the precious resources of an orange were good enough. Likewise, in this world, where Christ may return at any moment, the parable warns, we must be ready.

Outline: To be wise like the wise women —

1. Be prepared for Jesus’ coming — v. 4. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.

Only Matthew gives the parable of the wise and foolish maidens. It concerns the return of Christ. His coming is delayed. During the delay, foolish people go to sleep and run out of oil for their lamps. At midnight, when least expected, the Bridegroom[1] comes. The unprepared have the door shut in front of them. The parable teaches us to be constantly alert and prepared for the return of Jesus Christ.

2. Refuse to share your spiritual resources — vv. 8-9. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.

Christians are familiar with the three Wise Men, but how many know about the five Wise Women? According to the parable half of us are foolish when it comes to the end of days. Our foolishness is expressed in claiming to know the day and hour of Jesus’ return, in withdrawing from the world to await the return of Christ, and in ignoring the possibility of Jesus’ Second Coming in our time. In the parable we have a model for wise men and women.

“Go ... and buy for yourselves” (v. 9). On the surface this response seems heartless. The foolish five are in a crisis; there is an emergency. Shouldn’t the other five be considerate and compassionate enough to share what they have? It is an urgent matter because it is a matter of eternal life or death. There is a sternness in the parable: When the foolish girls finally get to the wedding feast, the “door was shut” (v.10), and when they appealed for entry, the bridegroom unbelievably says, “I do not know you” (v. 12).

All of this happens by virtue of the nature of being prepared spiritually. No one can get to heaven on the oil of another’s faith. Without faith in Christ, the door of salvation is closed. Faith in Christ is the key to the door. It sounds cruel but the fact is that people without faith are unknown to God, for to know is to be personally related to God.

Timing is everything. The word is based on two Greek words for "time." One[2] refers to regular, every day time—what we might call chronological time.
On the other hand, the other[3] means "special" time, as in "God's time." According to business as usual--the bridegroom is delayed. The ten virgins fall asleep.

The five foolish girls represent the "wisdom of this world--the live-by-what-you- can-see wisdom" that God has turned upside down. The five wise virgins represent the "wisdom of faith," the wisdom of trusting in Christ's complete redemption of the world.
As a sign of how the five foolish virgins live by the ways of this world, they wind up going to the marketplace to try to buy some more oil. While they were participating in the established market system--the status quo of the world--the bridegroom interrupted chronological business-as-usual time by breaking in and making His dramatic arrival.

Faith is not about believing correct thoughts. Faith is about trusting in Jesus, which, in turn, means living in the new reality He teaches—not in the status quo, business-as-usual living of this world, but rather, living in "the way" of Jesus, in anticipation of the Father's kingdom, by affirming the absolute equality and dignity Christ has given to all people who come to Him by faith, confessing and repenting of their sins and then trusting in the merits of Jesus’ sacrifice for them on the cruel and bloody cross of Calvary - and hanging in there - even when it appears that God is far away, or that the Bridegroom has been delayed.

3. Enter the feast of the kingdom — v. 10. But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

"But at midnight a cry happened!" It's a bit awkward in English, but the word Jesus uses here[4] literally means "it came into existence," in other words, "it happened." The word is often used to underline the significance of the event. In the middle of the night of chronological time, there is-"a cry"--and "behold! The Bridegroom showed up!" It happened!

Conclusion: The story is told of a little girl who had been taught about the second coming in Sunday School. She asked her mother about the lesson. "Mommy, do you believe Jesus will come back?" "Yes." "Could He come this week?" "Yes." "Today?" "Yes." "Could He come in the next hour?" "Yes." "In a few minutes?" "Yes, dear." "Mommy, would you comb my hair?"

This girl had the right idea: we must always be ready for the return of Christ Jesus.
Matthew tells us that the day of opportunity, the chance for repentance, the season for faith in Christ, is over for those who are not ready to meet the Lord when He comes. For the five foolish virgins the door to the wedding feast was shut, locked, and bolted. There was no way they could gain entrance. The Bridegroom even went so far as to declare, "I don't know you" (Vs 12). Once the Bridegroom has showed up, once Christ has returned, it is too late to try to get ready for His coming. You must be ready before He returns.

[1] Christ
[2] Chronos
[3] Kairos,
[4] gegonen

Wright Baptism photoes

If you go to this link you can find pictures of the baptism of Magdalen Jayne, Gwendalen Claire, and Lilliann Samantha Wright - November 3, 2008 God be praised!

Time in the Word - Proper 27

Time in the Word
Proper 27
November 3-8, 2008
The Day of our Lord

The Lessons for this coming week help us prepare for the coming of our Lord. In the Old Testament lesson the prophet Amos encourages us to prepare for the day of the Lord by exceeding justice. In the Epistle lesson Paul assures us that at the Judgment Day Jesus will bring with him all who died and the Christian people still living on earth will go with them to heaven. The Christians of Paul’s day believed that Christ’s return was at hand. This caused concern for those who already died. Would they miss the glorious event and the opportunity to go with Jesus to heaven? Paul assures them that the dead in Christ will come with him and then he will gather the living. Together the dead and living will go to heaven to be forever with Christ. In the Gospel lesson we find the parable of the wise and foolish maidens. Only Matthew gives the parable. It concerns the return of Christ. His coming is delayed. During the delay, foolish people go to sleep and run out of oil for their lamps. At midnight when least expected, the Bridegroom (Christ) comes. The unprepared have the door shut in front of them. The parable teaches us to be constantly alert and prepared for the sure and sudden return of Jesus Christ.

Monday, November 3, 2008 Psalm 84:1, 9-12 - The Antiphon for this coming Sunday is from Psalm 84:3 “Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at Your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.”

Tuesday, November 4, 2008 – Amos 5:18-24- Through Amos God is speaking, “I hate, I despise....” Can God hate? Is he not love? Since God is a personality, he has, like us, the capacity to hate as well as to love. In fact, if one cannot hate, one cannot love. But what or whom does God hate? It is not “whom” but “what.” Always he loves the sinner but not the sin. God hates our wickedness, our insincere worship, and our religiosity: “feasts,” “solemn assemblies,” “noises of your songs.” God hates your hypocrisy. If God hates sin, should Christians not also do the same?

Wednesday, November 5, 2008 – 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – Paul uses “sleep” to describe the dead in Christ. They are asleep in Jesus. “Sleep” is a comforting concept of the Christian dead. When we sleep, we are at rest. Our labors are over and we rest at peace. When we sleep, we are not dead but alive. We shall awaken out of sleep. We fall asleep on earth to awaken in heaven for a fuller, better life with Christ.

We grieve over the loss of loved ones, but not as those who have no hope of heaven. In Paul’s day, people were grieving because they were worried lest the departed miss out on the return of Christ. They wanted the dead to share in his victory, to see the destruction of Satanic powers, and to rejoice in the spectacular glory of Christ. For Christians, the end time will be a glorious time and we want our loved ones to share it.

When Christ returns at the end of time, the living and the dead in Christ will be together. When Christ leaves heaven for earth, he will bring with him those who died in faith. There is going to be one great, colossal reunion of heaven and earth! Since this is the case according to Paul, we know where our departed loved ones are now. They are with Christ in heaven. To be with Christ is to have life, love, joy, and peace. What more could we want for ourselves or our dearest?

Thursday, November 6, 2008–Matthew 25:1-13 – Five girls are wise and five are foolish. Could there be that many foolish people? According to this, five go to heaven and five to hell; five have life and five have death; five have joy and five are miserable. We fall into one of these two categories. There is no in-between state. When it comes to being prepared for Christ’s return, we are either wise in being prepared or foolish in not being ready to receive him.

Christ’s return is delayed, because the first Christians expected his return in their lifetimes. Since this time, there were Christians in each century who expected the last great day to happen within a short time. Here it is the beginning of the twenty-first century and he still has not come. We humans tend to get weary in waiting to the point that we conclude he is not coming in our time. This results in carelessness expressed in “sleep” (v. 5) and not having an adequate supply of “oil” (v. 3). The delay is fraught with danger for us.

Friday, November 7, 2008 Psalm 50 - This Psalm is the appointed for this Sunday. Verse 1 is the key verse, “O Lord, make haste to help me.” This is the prayer of faith. When we reach out to the Savior with our burdens, joy, sorrow and cares He answers every petition. Our only request, “Thy will be done Lord, Thy will be done.

Saturday, November 8, 2008 Matthew 25:1-13 –- Our reading is the inspiration for the hymn; “Wake Awake, for Night is flying”. The bridegroom comes at midnight. Surprise! Who would imagine a bridegroom coming for his bride at the ungodly hour when the world is asleep? It is the least expected time. Those who stay up late are surely in bed by midnight, and even the early risers would not get up at midnight.

Jesus said his return would be like this. No one would know the day and hour — so be ready! Moreover, the signs of his coming are associated with the midnight of day which becomes the noonday of hell: wars, earthquakes, catastrophes, fear, and so on. When times are at their worst and when people are at their lowest and darkest moments, Christ will come.

Sources
LUTHERAN SEVICE BOOK © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO

LECTIONALRY PREACHING WORKBOOK SERIES A © 1980 John Brokhoff CSS Publishing Lima, OH

Another Sign of the Approaching Apocalypse

Christmas decorations went up today at DuPont Hospital in Ft. Wayne, IN

A First

Oh my...

Pr. Kyle and his wife Kari Wright are now the proud parents of triplets born October 30, 2008

Kyle is the pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Hamlet, IN [Across the road from Oregon- Davis High School for you Hoosiers in the know...] in Starke county.

At 12:14 pm Maggie was born she weighed 3lbs 14oz.
At 12:16 pm Lilly was born she weighed 3lbs. 15oz.
At 12:17 pm Gwen was born she weighed 3lbs. 15oz.

Maggie, Lilly and Gwen were welcomes by their big sister Katie who will turn two next week!

This morning all three were baptized. Kari was finally able to get up to the NICU unit to witness the baptism. After twenty-five years of ministry this is a first. I've baptized multiple sets of twins...but never triplets. My father in 40 years as a family practice physician only delivered one set of triplets.

Yesterday we had two baptisms...that would make five baptisms in one week. On the last day I served Trinity, Lansing, IL [March 8, 1987] I baptized five individuals in one day.

Another first...this coming Sunday I will baptize another infant. I have had the privilege to have baptized and confirmed his mom and I officiated at his parents' wedding. After 21 years I'm starting on my second generation here at Zion, Friedheim. God be praised!

You can visit Kyle and Keri's site here: http://kyleandkeriwright.wordpress.com/2008/10/

Trust not in princes...

Trust not in princes, they are but mortal
Earth-born they are and soon decay
Naught are their counsels at life’s last portal,
When the dark grave doth claim its prey
Since, then, no man can help afford
Trust ye in Christ, our God and Lord.
Hallelujah!

Praise the Almighty, My Soul Adore Him –
Johann Herrnschmidt – 1714

Proper 26

Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
Friedheim
10653 N – 550 W
Decatur, IN 46733
260-547-4248

www.zionfriedheim.org

A 21st Century Parish with a 1st Century Faith
Acts 2:42

Celebrating our 170th Year
Chartered February 25, 1838

November 2, 2008
Proper 26
Matthew 23:1-12
Lord, use me

“Lord, when the day of wrath comes, we have no hope except in your grace. Make us so to watch for the last days that the consummation of our hope may be the joy of marriage feast of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Introduction: Our Gospel lesson is for both clergy and laity. Jesus spoke about the scribes and the Pharisees. The scribes were the professional, ordained clergy who were scholars, teachers, and rabbis. The Pharisees were not theologically educated; they were lay people who were leaders dedicated and zealous in keeping the Law.

The people assembled for worship can be classified today as Pharisees. They are the thirty to fifty percent of the congregation present for worship Sunday after Sunday. They are the cream of the crop, the most active, and leaders of the congregation. This message is for both pastor and people today.

Jesus urges His disciples to follow what the Pharisees taught but not what they practiced. Jesus exhorts both people and disciples not to follow the Pharisees who do not practice what they preach, but to attain greatness through humility and service.

In contrast to self and title-seeking, Jesus urged His followers to renounce pride and titles in favor of service to God.

Outline: Lord, use me.

1. Our strength: teaching and preaching the Word — vv. 2-3. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat .So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

The Words…Preach ... practice (v. 3). These two belong together, but often they are not. The preaching may be all right, but the practice has not the same quality.
Jesus urges His listeners to practice what the scribes and Pharisees preach, but not to follow their practice. Can we do this? Can we separate preaching from practice? Most of us repudiate the preaching that is not practiced. Yet, what preacher can perfectly practice his own preaching? Can you?

2. Our weaknesses: do not do as the Pharisees — vv. 3-7. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries[1] wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.

Religious leaders are prone to be proud of themselves, their positions, and their piety.
They want to be “seen.” “Look at me” — they say - see how good I am! They want their gifts publicized and want due credit. They like to wear large crosses and put religious slogans on bumpers. They want to be seated up front and they love their titles. All these add up to pride. They want to be “seen.”

But this morality, my friends will not and can not save you. A Law that demands anything less than perfection - demands less than Jesus’ perfect obedience. A Law that sinners can keep doesn’t require Jesus’ dead on the Cross…soft peddling the Law just won’t do – not if we want sinners to trust Jesus alone to be saved. Excuses, generalities, house rules, principle for living and all of the moralist of today ultimately rob sinners of their only comfort and hope.

God gave His Law to hunt us down, find us out, corner us and kill us. The Law is powerful, but it is a deadly power because of our sin. In the end, the Law exposes us as the enemies of God we really are…In the end, the Law leaves the sinner utterly sinful, utterly condemned, utterly dead. The Law leaves the sinner without hope in himself or the Law. There is no hope – except one. His name is Jesus Christ. [2] It is only through His merits on the cross of Calvary that you and I find salvation and life.

3. Our goal: humbler service — vv. 11-12. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

The world does not agree with Jesus on the question, “Who is the greatest?” In the world the greatest is a star like Julia Roberts or Brad Pitt. The greatest is a champion like Tiger Woods. The greatest is a billionaire like Bill Gates. The greatest is a monarch of a nation like the Queen of England.

This kind of greatness is for a few people. For Jesus’ greatness, every person can be the greatest. It takes only humble service. The greatest can be poor, uneducated, unknown — just a humble person living for others as the Savior shapes their lives.

Conclusion: We must take the attitude of John the Baptist who said of our Savior – He must increase I must decrease. In humility we pray – Lord I am an instrument use me as You see fit. I am Your servant. You are to potter I am the clay. Shape and use me as You deem the best, for Your kingdom – Your glory and my good.


[1] Matthew 23:5 That is, boxes containing Scripture verses, worn on forehead and arm
[2] Issues, Etc. Journal Vol. 6, No. 1 “The Law’s Accusations: God’s Perfect, Specific and Unavoidable Demands” by Todd Wilken pp. 9-10