32ND SUNDAY OF THE YEAR A
What if in the next moment, Christ returned in glory with the shout of the Archangel and the blast of trumpet? Jesus wants to make sure that all of us are going to be ready when these events take place.
There have always been in the Church – past, present, and future – wise and foolish people, faithful and unfaithful servants, sheep and goats. This is a harsh reality, but a reality none the less. As we move toward the end of this Church year, the parables we’ve been hearing for several weeks now serve two purposes.
They serve to assure us that when Christ comes, true believers will be welcomed into the wedding feast, where they will share in their master’s happiness and receive the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world…These parables also serve as a warning that unless we do the things that are required for salvation, we will find ourselves shut out of that kingdom.
In our gospel reading this morning, there appears to be no difference among the ten virgins who are waiting for the bridegroom. All ten have been invited. All ten have taken their lamps. Indeed, all ten have even fallen asleep. And all ten hear the shout that the bridegroom is coming.
In other words, we cannot discern who among any of us is wise or foolish. It means that we cannot truly know who among us will be rewarded and who of us will be excluded.
All of us are members of the Church. We all take part in its worship, its education, and its opportunities. We all at least give lip service to the fact that we look for the coming of Jesus in glory. And like those tired virgins, all of us at times fall asleep.
It’s only at the moment when the shout goes forth that the crucial difference is made painfully apparent. Both the wise and foolish awake, but only the wise have brought enough oil to light their lamps. And what follows are some of the sweetest words in the gospels.
Those who were ready went into the feast and the door was locked. How wonderful it will be on that day when Christ comes for his people and ushers them into that glorious feast of heaven. Imagine the joy of sitting down with the saints of God in the presence of Christ the King. Imagine the wonderful reunions that will take place as loved ones, separated by death are brought together.
And for the foolish we have some of the saddest words in Scripture. The door was locked. Then the foolish ones came back and said, Lord, Lord, open the door for us! But he said in reply, Amen I say to you, I do not know you. The most devastating words anyone could ever hear. To be waiting on the very doorstep of heaven and to find the door shut and locked; to be rejected and turned away.
Alfred Lloyd Tennyson captured the great despair of that hour when he wrote: Late, late, so late, and dark the night and chill…Too late, too late, God said, ye cannot enter now. No light had we; for that we do repent…O let us in, that we may find the light…Too late, God said; ye cannot enter now.
My dear friends, Jesus will come again. What if it were today? Will we be ready, with lamps lit, eager to welcome the Bridegroom and enter the joy of that great wedding feast when we are safe, inside the feast, and the door is shut at last – shut on pain and sorrow – shut on sickness and death – shut on doubts and fears. Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the lamb.