1 Thessalonians 4: 13 – 18
This morning we live in the present, and it’s very important that we do. The New Testament encourages us to live with the Lord day by day, trusting Him to guide us and to provide for us. We are neither to live in the past (whether filled with regret or loss on the one hand, or nostalgia on the other) – nor are we to be over-concerned about the future beyond the bounds of good stewardship. Christ commands that we be not over-anxious about tomorrow, but allow our lives to be suffused with his peace and joy which pass all understanding. Paul writes “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favour; now is the day of salvation!” (2 Cor 6:2). And so, today, we rejoice to say “The Lord is here – his Spirit is with us!”
Nevertheless, our Christian lives in God’s present have to be placed in a framework of God’s past and God’s future. God’s plan for his creation had a beginning and we are assured that it will have an end, in which all the mysteries, doubts, joys and sufferings of this world will find their final resolution. Last Sunday as we celebrated All Saints Day, we read from Revelation and celebrated that great day when Christ is finally glorified, we shall see his face, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. It is of that great day that Paul writes in our first reading from 1Thessalonians 4.
When and how God will bring all his plans to fulfilment no-one can say. The New Testament writers struggle as we do, because if you cannot imagine such a thing, you cannot describe it. You can only conjure up images and words which try to hint at what it will achieve, viewed from our perspective.
In this passage from 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul has one particular purpose in mind. He is writing to a group of Christians who expect Christ to return in glory very soon and establish his kingdom in all its fullness. And they have a problem which is deeply troubling them. As time goes by, a number of them are dying, and they are becoming very sad because they believe that these people will miss the Lord’s glorious return. Paul’s purpose in this section of his letter is to reassure them that they won’t miss out.
What they have forgotten is that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, so will all his followers be raised from the dead. And they will, so to speak, take precedence in the resurrection, and take absolutely full part in Christ’s glory. Moreover, we shall be reunited with those who have gone before us in the faith and (as he says) “So we will (all) be with the Lord for ever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
Today we look back with thankfulness to those who gave their lives in the cause of justice, freedom and faith, and remember them with gratitude. But there must be few among us who have not experienced the loss of loved ones, and so Paul’s words speak to all of us. As Christians, we believe in the resurrection and that one day all our griefs and doubts and puzzles will be resolved, and we shall be together with the Lord who will wipe away all tears from our eyes. For those we love, this is what we can call ‘hopeful grieving’. One day we shall all be together with the Lord. Therefore, let us (like those 1st century Christians) encourage one another with these words.
Matthew 25: 1 – 13
The coming of the Bridegroom in Jesus’ story in today’s Gospel is clearly another reference to that great day when God’s Kingdom will come to its fulfilment. We are beginning to prepare for the season of Advent, the theme of which is the Coming of Christ, and so it’s appropriate that we are beginning to hear warnings about ‘staying awake’ – ‘keeping watch’ – and being prepared for the cry to go up that the Bridegroom is on his way, ‘Come out to meet him’ – when the great heavenly alarm clock sounds to herald the last day.
But in fact the idea of staying awake and keeping watch doesn’t catch the right translation here. Notice that the wise as well as the foolish girls became drowsy and fell asleep. The difference was that the wise ones had enough oil with them, and the foolish ones didn’t. So the right translation is “Be Prepared”, because if, as a disciple, you are prepared, then you can lie down and sleep in confidence, rather than trying fruitlessly to stay awake in anxiety.
Having enough oil must therefore refer to a steady relationship with the Lord which lasts over time and doesn’t run out. We keep this relationship alive by embracing him as he speaks to us through his Word, through Prayer, through meeting with him in our Worship, and taking him to ourself in the sacrament of Holy Communion. We keep it alive by listening to his commands and keeping them – caring for the needy, loving one another and being united in his Body which is the Church. That way we keep the relationship alive and close, and no distance can insinuate itself between us and our Lord.
Notice the test at the end. The Lord says to the foolish maidens: “I don’t know you.” In August I was preaching about the test of the disciple in John’s Gospel being whether we ‘recognise’ Jesus when he appears among us. Now it’s the other way round. When he comes among us, does He recognise you – or me?
It can easily happen in life that you have a great friend, but – over the years – you lose touch. Perhaps the years go by, and gradually (subtly, imperceptibly) the relationship fades to the point where the other person no longer really knows you, and eventually fails to recognise you. If that happens there will come a point when it is too late to re-establish the relationship. What once was precious, has gone. We must never allow that to happen in our relationship with Jesus.
On this Remembrance Sunday we look back with gratitude, and we look forward with great hope. But both the beginning and the end belong to Christ, who is the Alpha and the Omega, and so the summons is to stay close to the One who holds in his hands both our beginning and our end, because he holds the key to life, death and resurrection, and in him is our present, our future – our hope and our salvation. Stay close – and live each day in faith and in hope.
Discussion
What does the oil that keeps the lamp alight signify for you today?
Compare Matthew 7: 21 – 23. What makes the Lord recognise and know us personally? Can you think of other relevant passages such as Matthew 25: 31 – 46?
Thinking personally, what is it that makes you feel especially close to the Lord so that you recognise each other?
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