Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

           Today, and for the next two weeks, we will be going through this twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. The chapter contains two parables and a teaching—all about the kingdom of God. Next week, there will be an emphasis on stewardship, so we will be examining the parable of the talents. Two weeks from today is Christ the King Sunday, and we will look at that teaching about the Son of Man returning and the separating of the sheep from the goats and all that. Three weeks from today is the beginning of Advent. Time sure goes by quickly. Advent is when we begin preparing for the arrival of Jesus. Today’s text is a bit of a head start on this preparing thing.

           I think I was sharing this story with a few of you as we were eating one Wednesday evening. But I remember one year in Sunday School, we had this teacher who enjoyed giving tests. I don’t know; I was in fourth or fifth grade. The teacher gave tests. Well, maybe they were more like quizzes. But, still…quizzes in Sunday School?

           I remember one particular testing of our theological knowledge. I remember it because of one question on that quiz. There were five questions. And the third question was, “When will Jesus come back to earth?”

           Now on occasion when I was younger, I would quibble with or challenge a teacher. I would usually do this when I thought a question he or she was asking was a dumb question. It wasn’t that the question was really dumb. It’s just I might not have been prepared, so I would cover up my lack of preparedness by arguing about the validity or intelligence of the questions. Most teachers saw right through that.

           But in this particular case the question was dumb. Why? Because I remembered the little Bible lesson we had done. The one when we talked about Jesus coming back someday to gather up all his children. I remembered that. And I remembered that all of us inquisitive children had the question for which everyone would like an answer. That question was, “When?” “Great story, Teacher, but when will Jesus come back?” And her answer was, “I don’t know.” She told us that nobody knows when Jesus will come back. Yet there she was, question three, asking us when Jesus would come back.

           Okay, so let me just say that all of you know what the answer to question three should have been. But cut me a bit of slack. I was young. Something short circuited. I thought the teacher was looking for an actual date. So I went up to her and asked her a question about that question. I asked her something along the lines of how she expected us to know something that she said she didn’t even know. Yea, I really did that. And she just smiled at me and said I did know the answer, and I should just take my seat and write the answer.

           Yea, I knew the answer. I think I wrote down something like March 1, 1990—which at the time seem a good ways off. Of course, the correct answer to that question was and still is, “I don’t know.”

           When will Jesus return? You know, that may well be the only question to which the correct answer is, “I don’t know.” We have made a lot of advances. But we are no closer to answering that question than people were twenty centuries ago. Oh, there have been those who have ventured a guess. They have examined the prophecies and the times and tried to piece together a timetable. Truth is we don’t know. Jesus said he didn’t know. So we

wait. How do we wait? What do we do while we wait? This is what we will be looking at in this chapter of Matthew. Jesus began with a parable along the lines of how we wait.

           Jesus began his story with the words, “At that time….” “At that time the kingdom of heaven—or the kingdom of God—will be like ten virgins or maidens or bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.” He had just spent most of chapter twenty-four talking about the signs of the end of the age. He talked about abominations and false prophets. He then said no one knew when all that would take place. But he told the people to keep watch. It was at this point when Jesus told this story which would have been familiar to his hearers.

           See, there were certain marriage customs in Jesus’ day—customs different from what we often experience today. In Jesus’ time and place, the bridegroom, with some of his close friends, would leave his house and go to the bride’s home. At the bride’s home there was the observance of certain ceremonies. Following the ceremonies, there was a procession through the streets, after night had arrived, back to the bridegroom’s house. Bridesmaids—who assisted the bride—would be a part of the procession. Everyone in the procession was expected to carry his or her own torch. Those without a torch were considered to be party crashers. The festivities lasted several days.

But…all of the partying began with people waiting for the bridegroom to arrive at the bride’s home. So when Jesus began telling this story, the people could picture the scene.

Ten maidens went out to meet the bridegroom. They went to meet him as he was coming to the home of the bride. Jesus said five of them were wise, and five were foolish. The wise ones were wise because they had plenty of oil for their lamps—or torches. The foolish ones were foolish because they did not take enough oil with them. The bridegroom was late. So late that it was night—night, when the procession from the bride’s home back to the bridegroom’s place should have been occurring. All the bridesmaids became drowsy and fell asleep.

At midnight, the bridegroom came walking down the road. The announcement rang out, “Here comes the bridegroom. Come out to meet him.” The bridemaids woke up. The foolish ones noticed their lamps were beginning to dim. They asked the wise among them for some oil. The wise refused. After all, if they gave up some of their oil, then all ten of them would run the risk of running out of light. The wise told the foolish to go buy some oil. They did. But while they were gone, the bridegroom arrived. The party began. And the five foolish bridesmaids were shut out of the celebration.

Jesus’ conclusion was that we need always to keep watch, because we do not know the day or the hour.

The issue here is one of preparedness. And we see that being prepared cannot be transferred or shared or borrowed. The foolish bridesmaids could not borrow oil. We also notice there will be that moment when it just might be too late. So the thing to be is prepared at all times. This long time of waiting is providing everyone with the opportunity to be ready.

Another thing, and I think this is an important distinction. Both groups were prepared to meet the bridegroom—at first. Both groups had oil for their lamps. Their lamps were burning. The foolish ones said, “Our lamps are going out.” So they all had burning lamps. But the wise ones were prepared for the delay. They were prepared for a long wait. They had extra oil.

There is something else interesting in this. We know that basically the only difference between the wise and the foolish was the issue of enough oil. The wise were prepared. Notice, though, a similarity. What did both groups do? They both fell asleep. While waiting, they both slept. And why not fall asleep? The time, after all, was around midnight. And what do most people who are not working the late shift do at midnight? They sleep. A normal and healthy thing to do. Nothing unspiritual about sleep. Jesus placed no blame on either group for catching a few winks. His final exhortation was not, “Don’t fall asleep!” It was, “Keep watch!” in other words, “Be prepared!”

We do not know the day or the hour. Jesus did not even know. We go about our normal business. We go about life. We work. We go to school. We play. When midnight rolls around, we sleep. And next week, we will take a closer look at what we do while we wait—what we do to stay prepared.

But we are prepared. Ready for the arrival of Jesus—who could come at any moment—or who might not arrive until years from now. Prepared for what could be a lengthy wait. But always ready.

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.