1745AFC111017 – God did that
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Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! I’m back to being able to actually see what I’m doing on the computer. My monitor was getting flaky, and I finally had to replace it. Thanks again for those of you who have been praying for our needs here in Kapahi. I can assure you that it is making a difference. I especially thank you for your continued prayers for the persons named in the Share-A-Prayer list over the past few weeks. Lives are being changed! The recent news about not having to go to surgery – yet – was a nice surprise. Hopefully the PT will relieve the inflammation in my left shoulder and I will be able to regain a greater range of motion with much less discomfort; if that doesn’t work, then it’s go ahead with the surgery and do the PT all over again. Meanwhile, my hips are competing for attention, but until the shoulder issue resolves, not much will be done for those worn-out parts. Whatever the outcome, I am trying to be ready for God’s will in all things. Being ready means you don’t just assume that when the time comes you’ll be prepared for whatever happens. You have to be paying attention to “the little things.” Jesus taught several lessons on being ready. We will hear one such lesson this weekend – the 10 Virgins at the Wedding Feast. Here’s what I’d like to use as our key verse today:
Matthew 25:10 – 10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those 
who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut.
In this story, there are 10 virgins who are waiting for the bridegroom to return so that the Wedding Feast can start. All of them fall asleep. Five of them have brought extra oil; they are referred to as the wise virgins. Five of them did not bring extra oil; they are referred to as the foolish virgins. When the bridegroom arrived, the wise were ready to go into the feast with him because they could refill their lamps and trim their wicks. The foolish ones begged the wise for more oil. The request was not granted. Instead they were sent out into the darkness to attempt to correct their foolishness. The wise went in with the bridegroom. The foolish were locked out. Although the parable does not say it directly, we can come to a reasonable assumption that the door was locked by the bridegroom after he entered the feast with the 5 who were ready. It is very apparent in this parable that Jesus is the bridegroom and the 10 virgins represent his followers – all 10 are invited to the feast. You may recall in the parable of the King’s Wedding Feast, the servants went out and brought in strangers, everyone they could find, people who would not normally have been invited. In this parable of the virgins, all of them are invited to share in the celebration. How can the bridegroom shut them out, and why? And what about the people who were never invited? What became of them? Why are they left out?
The series of parables in this part of Matthew are addressed to the Disciples – not just the Twelve, but to all who have answered the Gospel call. Jesus frequently pointed out that answering that call required a radical change in one’s life (we’ve discussed metanoia previously). If a Disciple was not able to sustain that level of commitment, they “fell away” from discipleship. They were left out. This is the basic message of everything in the Bible. We are to love God and love our neighbor. In and through that love, we find ways to obey God, to draw ever closer to him, and to find the strength to keep our commitment to his love. As stated here repeatedly, everyone is called, everyone is invited, the Wedding Feast is open to anyone who will come in and honor the bridegroom. In the Wedding Parables, those who could not do that were “bound hand and foot and cast out into the darkness where there was weeping and grinding of teeth” (paraphrasing there). Yes, we can be thrown out of the party, even if we think we belong there! Check out this passage:
Matthew 7:21-23 – 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’” Just who are these who are the “many,” the ones who expect Jesus to wave them into Heaven along with all the righteous? They are the “Sunday-goin’-t’meetin'” Christians. They are the folks who associate with the Church because they like hanging out with believers, but are only superficially tied to the church. Many passages in the Epistles and catholic letters deal with members of the early church who are abusing the fellowship (koinónia) of the Christian community.
The Apostle Paul tells those early Christians that faking it isn’t going to work. We’ve looked at this passage previously: 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 – 9 Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, 10 thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. All are invited, few are called, and many are excluded because they won’t “stick with the program.” Just as the people who would not honor the traditions in these parables were left out of the benefits enjoyed by those who would honor them, God will not allow those who dishonor his Son to enjoy the benefits of his heavenly reward – eternal life with him. Some folks just don’t believe God will do that. If you’re in that group, I have only one response: Read your Bible! Here are a few reminders –
Genesis 7:16 – 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in. Yes, God did that. He shut the door and no one else could enter.
Psalm 145:20 – 20 The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. Yes, God did that. He allowed the nations in Canaan 400 years to repent and reform. When they did not, Joshua and the nation of Israel came in and utterly destroyed them – men, women, children, livestock, cities … everything. At least that was what he ordered them to do. Some of his people refused to give their obedience, and they suffered the fate God intended for their enemies.
Psalm 34:15-16 – 15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. Yes, God did that. It’s abundantly clear throughout the whole Bible – and visible in all of earthly life – that God favors the righteous, but he will destroy those who are evil along with everything they do.
Matthew 13:41-43 – 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen! Yes, God did that. He planned it in a way that if we think we can go along for the ride just because we hang out with his Disciples, we will be left out – thrown out – with Satan and all his followers. Believe it or else.
Titus 2:11-14 – 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, 12 training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds. Yes, God did that. He gave us the gift of Grace that empowers and inspires us to love God and neighbor, but to abhor all that is Worldly like the five virgins who thought being invited was sufficient.
These are the false followers without truly being Disciples. They want the benefits of being a believer without doing the work. They are too self-centered to make Jesus the focal point of their love, preferring themselves instead, and expect the genuinely-committed to bail them out in the end (See verse 8 here.) The foolishness of this assumption is the whole point of the parable. At the outset, we may think that their foolishness was “failure to prepare.” In a way, that is true, but the real kicker is in the consequence of that failure. One’s faith in, and obedience to, Christ’s Law of Love cannot be bartered off to save someone else. It is only Jesus who saves, and he saves only those whose faith – the oil that lights the lamp – is consistently ready. Yes, God did that. We must not forget that it was God who created the universe, blessed it, and called it Good. The door is his to close at his chosen time. Right now, it’s open for everyone who can trust and obey (↔ Music Link) God’s Divine Plan. There is another who has a plan for you, but it is most definitely not good!
If we’re invited to the feast but never show up, we can be certain the door will be shut when we try to go in to the Feast. If we try to fake it, we will not make it to the Feast of the Righteous. On the Day of Reward, our reward will be eternal life – as it is for all souls – but it will be eternity without happiness of any kind. Yes, God did that. He offered Mercy to all and richly rewards all who will accept that Mercy. To those who refuse his Mercy, he gives his Perfect Justice. Yes, God did shut the door of the Ark, and that was the beginning of Justice for all who were not inside. Yes, God did warn the wicked in Canaan that their lives and property would be destroyed and the land would be handed over to his People. Yes, the Apostle Paul did tell the flatterers who wanted to be seen as Christians (like the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’ day) that they can’t fake their way into Heaven or invent their own Gospel. It is true that God commanded that the Ark be built, but it was Noah’s obedience that God honored by protecting him and his family at the time of that dreadful Justice. Mercy opens the door; justice closes it. Yes, God did that, but those who have eyes to see can see that the door is still open just a crack.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd!
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
