Matthew 25:1-13. Plenty of ‘good oil’!! 9/11/08
{1) "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. {2} Five of them were foolish and five were wise. {3} The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. {4} The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. {5} The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. {6} "At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' {7} "Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. {8} The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' {9} "'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.' {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. {11} "Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' {12} "But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' {13} "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Are you ready and prepared for the Lord’s coming? That is the message of our reading here this morning. Are you ready and prepared to meet your maker; the heavenly bridegroom; whether that be today or whenever? Have you got enough of the ‘good oil’ to get you through this life and into the next? Here the point is clearly made that there will be many who want to be in heaven, but they will miss out, because they haven’t got what it takes.
Now I use the term ‘good oil’ here, because it fits the parable and it is a term that many of us older ones know. But for those who haven’t heard the term; ‘good oil’ has the thought of having the right information and connections with regard to a particular issue. To have the ‘good oil’ is to have that which is good and necessary to deal with a situation that you have to deal with; and to enable one to in a sense, come out a winner. In regard to Jesus’ point here, it is to have enough of the ‘good oil, to get through to the end of this life, whenever that might be, and still be ready to enter the wedding feast that God has prepared in eternity.
Now when it comes to the rest of life we know very well the importance of being prepared and having enough supplies to get us through. Although I suspect that even there we are not so concerned any more; we can just go to the shops and buy some more when we run out; or we can just ‘jack up’ the credit card a bit more; she’ll be right mate. But ‘by and large’ we know that we know that if we are looking forward to something important, we need to be prepared. By way of example, there is no way we would prepare for an overseas holiday and leave getting a passport to the last couple of days; and packing our gear in the last hour before we need to board the plane. Because of the importance of the situation we will make sure that we are ready and prepared well in advance. We know that and we do it.
But what about with regard to our spiritual lives? What about that area of our life which is far more important and has far greater consequences for our eternal destiny? Do we even want to hear the ‘good oil,’ or are we like five of those girls in this parable? They wanted to be there, but they didn’t stop to think that they had better take plenty of oil for their lamps. We need to remember that they were guilty not merely of a lack of foresight; but of inexcusable, frivolous action on a very important occasion. The whole action must be interpreted in terms of a lack of faith; of non-interest in the promises of God’s Word; of life without the inner conviction and understanding that here we are talking about Christ and eternal life: Too busy living for themselves and life and not the importance of Jesus Christ as Lord of life and eternity.
Today we also far too often see the same attitude. In fact too often it is there in our own lives; ‘She’ll be right mate’ we’ll be OK. As long as we lead some semblance of a good life it will all work out.’ Too often our daily life; work, rest and play, is more important than the Lord of life himself.
The danger then is the same one the girls faced in this parable; 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' As we are going along it may seem fine, but when the unexpected hour comes, will we be ready. The Old Testament reading makes it quite clear that church attendance, offerings and an outward show of ‘christianity’ will not be enough.
Now surely that must make us all stop and think. In fact it is almost a worrying thought.
But no; let us remember there are five other girls in the parable as well. These were also out there ready for the wedding feast. When things took longer than expected they too nodded off; so outwardly things do not look all that different; excepting that they were prepared. Even when things did not work out as they thought it should, they were prepared for it: They had plenty of the ‘good oil’. So they had nothing to fear. The ‘good oil’ carried the day for them.
So what is this ‘good oil’ that we need? What are the preparations that we need to keep in mind? Now the first thing we need to understand is the importance of the situation. Here we are not talking about some ‘two bit’ show: something that is not all that important. This is about eternal life in heaven or hell: this is the heavenly banquet that will go on forever; or missing out all-together. This is about being with our Lord and our Saviour forever or not at all.
So as good as it might be to focus on this life and what it has to offer for a few short years; surely our primary focus will be on God’s kingdom, which has to do with this world and the next. We will take seriously what he has to say about our living and thinking now, so that we do not miss out on the next. Here in the Old Testament lesson God says, Let justice flow on like a river and righteousness like a never-failing stream. In other words, instead of merely looking good in the eyes of people around about us, to actual live out the life that God calls us to live, with genuine love for the fellow-human being. Instead of following the way of the world, to actually follow Christ and what he has to say to us.
This then, of course, means holding to the promises that he gives to us. It means trusting him when he tells us that his death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins is important: It means trusting that he has saved us from eternal damnation and therefore seek to be always at one with him. It means looking to him and seeking to be with him above and beyond anything else: it means wanting to do what he would want us to be doing.
So this then also means that we will want to come together week after to be strengthened and encouraged by him through Word and Sacrament. It means that we will read and study his Word. It means that we will seek to do the best we can for the people around about us. It means we will Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for us, as the most important thing that we can know and be a part of.
This all is the ‘good oil’ that we need to focus on.
So as we go from here today let us give more thought to the dire warning that God gives to us through this text. Ponder over the fact that many will miss out on the wedding banquet that Jesus is talking about, because they are too attached to this world. Their security is in what they see around them, and as a result fail to consider the need to be prepared for what God has in mind. Let us be mindful of their welfare and try to help them see the folly of their ways. But above all to make sure that we ourselves are prepared: making sure that we have plenty of the ‘good oil’: Living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ; trusting in him and his saving work on the cross; as well as ensuring that justice and righteousness abound in our own lives as we live them out every day.
Yes, let us watch out ourselves, for we do not know the day or the hour when our Lord will come. And all along let us ensure that all glory and honour goes to him whom it belongs, our great God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN
Pastor Roger Atze
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Toowoomba
{1) "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. {2} Five of them were foolish and five were wise. {3} The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. {4} The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. {5} The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. {6} "At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' {7} "Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. {8} The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' {9} "'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.' {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. {11} "Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' {12} "But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' {13} "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Are you ready and prepared for the Lord’s coming? That is the message of our reading here this morning. Are you ready and prepared to meet your maker; the heavenly bridegroom; whether that be today or whenever? Have you got enough of the ‘good oil’ to get you through this life and into the next? Here the point is clearly made that there will be many who want to be in heaven, but they will miss out, because they haven’t got what it takes.
Now I use the term ‘good oil’ here, because it fits the parable and it is a term that many of us older ones know. But for those who haven’t heard the term; ‘good oil’ has the thought of having the right information and connections with regard to a particular issue. To have the ‘good oil’ is to have that which is good and necessary to deal with a situation that you have to deal with; and to enable one to in a sense, come out a winner. In regard to Jesus’ point here, it is to have enough of the ‘good oil, to get through to the end of this life, whenever that might be, and still be ready to enter the wedding feast that God has prepared in eternity.
Now when it comes to the rest of life we know very well the importance of being prepared and having enough supplies to get us through. Although I suspect that even there we are not so concerned any more; we can just go to the shops and buy some more when we run out; or we can just ‘jack up’ the credit card a bit more; she’ll be right mate. But ‘by and large’ we know that we know that if we are looking forward to something important, we need to be prepared. By way of example, there is no way we would prepare for an overseas holiday and leave getting a passport to the last couple of days; and packing our gear in the last hour before we need to board the plane. Because of the importance of the situation we will make sure that we are ready and prepared well in advance. We know that and we do it.
But what about with regard to our spiritual lives? What about that area of our life which is far more important and has far greater consequences for our eternal destiny? Do we even want to hear the ‘good oil,’ or are we like five of those girls in this parable? They wanted to be there, but they didn’t stop to think that they had better take plenty of oil for their lamps. We need to remember that they were guilty not merely of a lack of foresight; but of inexcusable, frivolous action on a very important occasion. The whole action must be interpreted in terms of a lack of faith; of non-interest in the promises of God’s Word; of life without the inner conviction and understanding that here we are talking about Christ and eternal life: Too busy living for themselves and life and not the importance of Jesus Christ as Lord of life and eternity.
Today we also far too often see the same attitude. In fact too often it is there in our own lives; ‘She’ll be right mate’ we’ll be OK. As long as we lead some semblance of a good life it will all work out.’ Too often our daily life; work, rest and play, is more important than the Lord of life himself.
The danger then is the same one the girls faced in this parable; 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' As we are going along it may seem fine, but when the unexpected hour comes, will we be ready. The Old Testament reading makes it quite clear that church attendance, offerings and an outward show of ‘christianity’ will not be enough.
Now surely that must make us all stop and think. In fact it is almost a worrying thought.
But no; let us remember there are five other girls in the parable as well. These were also out there ready for the wedding feast. When things took longer than expected they too nodded off; so outwardly things do not look all that different; excepting that they were prepared. Even when things did not work out as they thought it should, they were prepared for it: They had plenty of the ‘good oil’. So they had nothing to fear. The ‘good oil’ carried the day for them.
So what is this ‘good oil’ that we need? What are the preparations that we need to keep in mind? Now the first thing we need to understand is the importance of the situation. Here we are not talking about some ‘two bit’ show: something that is not all that important. This is about eternal life in heaven or hell: this is the heavenly banquet that will go on forever; or missing out all-together. This is about being with our Lord and our Saviour forever or not at all.
So as good as it might be to focus on this life and what it has to offer for a few short years; surely our primary focus will be on God’s kingdom, which has to do with this world and the next. We will take seriously what he has to say about our living and thinking now, so that we do not miss out on the next. Here in the Old Testament lesson God says, Let justice flow on like a river and righteousness like a never-failing stream. In other words, instead of merely looking good in the eyes of people around about us, to actual live out the life that God calls us to live, with genuine love for the fellow-human being. Instead of following the way of the world, to actually follow Christ and what he has to say to us.
This then, of course, means holding to the promises that he gives to us. It means trusting him when he tells us that his death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins is important: It means trusting that he has saved us from eternal damnation and therefore seek to be always at one with him. It means looking to him and seeking to be with him above and beyond anything else: it means wanting to do what he would want us to be doing.
So this then also means that we will want to come together week after to be strengthened and encouraged by him through Word and Sacrament. It means that we will read and study his Word. It means that we will seek to do the best we can for the people around about us. It means we will Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for us, as the most important thing that we can know and be a part of.
This all is the ‘good oil’ that we need to focus on.
So as we go from here today let us give more thought to the dire warning that God gives to us through this text. Ponder over the fact that many will miss out on the wedding banquet that Jesus is talking about, because they are too attached to this world. Their security is in what they see around them, and as a result fail to consider the need to be prepared for what God has in mind. Let us be mindful of their welfare and try to help them see the folly of their ways. But above all to make sure that we ourselves are prepared: making sure that we have plenty of the ‘good oil’: Living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ; trusting in him and his saving work on the cross; as well as ensuring that justice and righteousness abound in our own lives as we live them out every day.
Yes, let us watch out ourselves, for we do not know the day or the hour when our Lord will come. And all along let us ensure that all glory and honour goes to him whom it belongs, our great God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN
Pastor Roger Atze
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Toowoomba
posted by Roger at
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