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11.09.08

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

ARE YOU READY?

JOEL 2:28-32; MATTHEW 25:1-13

• Planning for the Future
• Ready for Anything
• “Are you ready?” is a question that’s often asked around our house
• It’s usually asked in conjunction with something we’re planning to do or somewhere we’re planning to go
• Any time we take a trip, before we pull out of the driveway, we typically run through a mental checklist to make sure we’ve done everything we needed to do
• Lights turned off—check
• Stove and coffee pot turned off—check
• Doors locked—check
• Then there are the questions back and forth between us
• Did you pack enough clothes?
• Did you get your medicines?
• Did you bring the directions?
• Once we’ve finally run through our inventory and checked and double-checked everything we needed to do, Janie and I will look at each other and one of us will ask, “Are you ready?”
• The fact of the matter is we spend a huge amount of time in our life planning
• It seems that we’re always getting ready for something
• We plan to get an education, making decisions that will influence what we’ll do for the rest of our lives
• We plan a wedding, making certain that every detail is covered so that it will be a perfect day
• We plan to have a family: how many children we’d like to have, what their names will be, and what it will cost to raise them
• We squirrel away money for a rainy day fund, for that dream vacation, for our retirement so we can continue to live when we’re no longer working in the same level of comfort we had when we were working
• Once in awhile, we might do something spontaneous—a bit off the wall—but most of the time we find ourselves in the cycle of planning one thing after another
• And we do that because we really are creatures of habit
• We don’t really like surprises
• We’re much more comfortable when life is orderly and ordinary, when everything flows along gently
• That’s the way we want life to be, but in reality, we know that life can sometimes become very disorderly
• The quiet flowing stream becomes a raging river when storms come our way
• Unfortunately, storms do come
• Our orderly, quiet, flowing life is disrupted by death, by illness, by conflict
• The winds blow and the waters rise, and our little boat is tossed in the waters and we’re afraid we might drown
• Where Are We Anchored?
• The disciples of Jesus experienced just such a situation
• They were traveling on the Sea of Galilee with Jesus, and the weather was calm when they set sail
• Because of the geography that surrounds this sea, violent storms often erupt without warning caused by the winds that blow down from the mountains
• And that’s what happened on this particular day
• Luke tells us that the boat was being swamped and they were in great danger
• While the disciples were struggling to keep their little boat afloat, Jesus lay peacefully asleep
• In a panic, the disciples woke him up: “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
• Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the waves and the sea became calm
• “Where is your faith?” he asked the disciples (Luke 8:22-25)
• This story is a metaphor for how life often is
• Even though many of Jesus’ disciples were experienced fishermen who made their living on the waters of the Sea of Galilee and faced many storms during their career, they weren’t prepared to handle this one
• And that was the point of Jesus’ question, “Where is your faith?”
• No matter how prepared we think we are, there are storms that will come that will test our strength and endurance
• So not only must we prepare physically and materially for the challenges life brings us, we must also prepare spiritually
• So often we struggle in times of trouble because our spiritual strength is badly lacking
• We haven’t taken the time to adequately prepare when the days are sunny, before the storms of life come our way
• Preparing to Face the Future
• “End Times” Theology
• Our Scripture lessons this morning fit into the category that biblical scholars call eschatology
• Eschatology is the study of end times, the culmination of human history and the end of the world
• Our passage in Joel begins with the editor’s heading “The Day of the Lord”
• In Hebrew theology, life is divided into two “days” or eras—the present day, and the Day of the Lord
• The characteristics of the Day of the Lord are violence, massive upheaval and destruction, as evidenced in this passage—v. 30-31
• It will be a dreadful day for all who are not adequately prepared
• The means to salvation at that day is to call on the name of the Lord, for “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (vs. 32)
• Jesus’ parable of the Ten Virgins is often related to his second coming
• Jesus is the bridegroom who will come at an unexpected hour and only those who are ready for him when he comes will be admitted to the wedding feast
• And although Jesus made it very clear that no one can know when he will return, not even himself, the early believers were convinced that his time away would be brief and Jesus would return during their lifetime
• More than twenty centuries have passed and we are still waiting, yet many still believe that they can pinpoint the exact time Jesus will return!
• These passages have often been used for the purpose of getting people ready for Jesus’ return, to scare people out of hell and into heaven so that no one will be “Left Behind”
• It certainly is important to be ready for heaven when Jesus returns
• But these passages aren’t just about life in the hereafter; they’re about life in the here-and-now
• Joel reminds us that we never know when our life will be turned upside down and our world come crashing down around us
• The only way to survive those times is to call on the name of the Lord
• And Jesus’ words emphasize the importance of preparing ourselves in advance spiritually for unforeseen circumstances
• The Wise and Foolish Virgins
• The five virgins who missed out on the wedding feast weren’t excluded because they fell asleep
• They were all watching faithfully until the hour grew late and they all fell asleep during the long wait for the bridegroom
• The five who were excluded were excluded because they missed their opportunity, and they missed their opportunity because they weren’t adequately prepared
• The “oil” for the lamps in Hebrew theology is a symbol for obedience and faithfulness
• The five virgins who were admitted were admitted because they were faithful, and the five who were excluded were excluded because they were unfaithful
• The wise virgins were wise because they took the time to prepare in advance, and the foolish virgins were foolish because they didn’t
• Using the oil as a symbol of faithfulness says a couple of things to us
• First of all, it says that we cannot be saved by the faith of others and other people’s faith will not be enough to carry us through when the seas of life get turbulent
• Salvation comes only when we find faith for ourselves
• Another person’s faith and prayers may help us discover faith, but we can’t be saved on the basis of their merit
• We must come to faith ourselves
• Another person’s faith might support and encourage us during the turbulent times of our life, but it won’t be enough to carry us through
• The strength we need to overcome the trials and tribulations that come into our lives comes from a faith that we have worked to develop during the times when life is easier, before the winds begin to blow and the waters begin to rise
• The second thing the oil says to us is that faith cannot be bought
• The foolish virgins searched frantically to buy more oil, yet they found none
• And they found none because it was the middle of the night and the marketplace was closed
• Salvation and faith are gifts we receive by the grace of God
• No amount of money can buy our way into heaven
• And during those times when we are lost in the darkness, struggling through the dark night of the soul, it is only faith that will light the way so that we can find our way through the darkness
• Your Spiritual Investment
• Pastor and author James W. Moore, in his book Noah Built His Ark in the Sunshine, tells the story of a man who once came into his office
• He had just received the news that he had a terminal illness and had only about six months to live
• The man said to his pastor, “As the news sunk in, I realized sadly that I had no spiritual resources, no spiritual strength to face this.”
• Materially, he was very rich, but spiritually he was bankrupt
• He said, “I’m poor in the things that count most.  All my life, I have put my faith in the wrong things.  I could pick up that phone and call any bank in the city and borrow any amount of money I want—just on my name.”
• His voice trailed off and tears streamed down his face
• Then very quietly he whispered, “I guess there are some things you just can’t borrow—and I don’t have any of those things.”
• What about you?
• Are you ready?  Have you taken the time to prepare?
• We plan ahead for so many things in life, yet we do so little in the way of spiritual planning and preparation
• Our Bibles collect dust because we’re too busy planning everything else
• We don’t know how to pray because we’re always to busy to pray
• A seat is vacant in worship because we’re busy dong many of the other things we planned for
• When the storms begin to rage around us, we, like the disciples frantically try to wake a sleeping Jesus
• “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!  Don’t you care?”
• At such times, Jesus may look at us too and ask, “Where is your faith?
• Are you ready?