Speaker 1: 0:16

Hi, my name is Kenzie Rice and I'm a senior at Benicia High School and a student here at Northgate.

Speaker 2: 0:22

Big fans, big fans.

Speaker 1: 0:24

And today I'm going to be reading Scripture Matthew 25, 1 through 13. At that time, the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them Verse 1. Here's the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet and the door was shut. Later the others also came. Lord, lord. They said open the door for us. But he replied truly, I tell you, I don't know you. Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. This is the word of God.

Speaker 2: 1:33

Thanks be to God. Thank you. If you don't know Kinsey, you're missing out. She is an amazing human being. Thank you, kinsey. Actual transcript of how it went. Hey, would you be willing to read for me? Absolutely, jeff. Whatever you need. By the way, you may have to say the word virgin a handful of times. So she's like whatever. Whatever you need, so she's awesome.

Speaker 2: 2:00

What comes to mind when I say these phrases? You never know, just in case, or be prepared, a little bit of anxiety. You're like oh, I don't even know what I'm supposed to be prepared for. There is nobody in my life that I feel like is more prepared than my son, my son Jackson. Actually, he was the one playing keys over there Handsome, handsome young man.

Speaker 2: 2:25

People say he looks exactly like me. So handsome young man? No, but he is, and has been throughout his entire life, very prepared. He's always been prepared, so much so he developed early on in life. He developed a deep love of reading, and so he would. Wherever he went, he would take a book with him. That was just that's what he did. In fact, you can see right here he loved, absolutely loved, reading.

Speaker 2: 2:51

I can't look at that photo for too long or I'll just start crying like a dad, but I so here's the thing I started looking for photos of him with books when he was younger, and it was easier to find photos of him with books than without. I put together a little compilation of all these. It's kind of like what's the green eggs and ham? I will not eat it in a box, I will not eat it with a fox. I was like I will read a book on a train, in a plane or something like that, but it's like he's on a swing in a subway, he's in In-N-Out and you just never know. You never know when the urge is going to strike and you're like I got to read, right, I got to read the one in the bottom right. Expand that one.

Speaker 2: 3:30

We were camping, we're camping and he was having a hard time because there was a lot of thunder and lightning on this camping trip. But blow up just his photo right there. He has, you know, because he's a little boy. He's got a rock and a book. You know, you just be prepared. You never know, right, right. So that's what he had. So be prepared. That's what Jesus is actually. That's his message. It's a continuation on of the same message. If you were here last week. We are continuing on with that same message of be prepared, because last week we were in chapter 24 of Matthew.

Speaker 2: 4:05

Pastor Lawrence went through and gave this beautiful definition of what it meant to be prepared. By the way, and I just jumped into it because I'm really excited to just get into it my name is Jeff Bachman, I'm one of the pastor's current staff and hi, it's good to see you all. We'll see you outside. Okay, let's keep moving. But he gave this beautiful definition of what it means to be prepared.

Speaker 2: 4:26

In this in-between period, we give our attention to the imminent return of Christ without blowing it out of proportion. It's kind of in that waiting period, jesus has been with his disciples and with religious leaders saying I am leaving, there is going to come a time that I will be gone, I will be crucified, I will be resurrected, I will ascend, as we see in Acts 1, and I will return the same way that I left, just not yet. And so we are now in that in-between, we're in the waiting, and that's the hardest part really is to make ourselves continue to be aware and alert. How do you stay aware and alert of something if you don't know when it's going to come, because it then becomes this balance of anticipation but then also anxiety, because you have something that's kind of lingering behind you. We're going to be teaching through Matthew 25 today. We're going to look at verses one through 13.

Speaker 2: 5:20

And then actually today's a special day because, as Pastor Lawrence mentioned, we are going to have baptism next week and then we head straight into the holidays. We're gonna be teaching a couple different messages on Christmas. We've got a mission Sunday. So we've got lots of stuff, but we're gonna be putting a pause on Matthew right now. We're going to pick it up on January 5th and from that point it is a sprint to Easter. So, by the way, you're all late. You should be getting ready for Easter right now. Just kidding, we're sprinting to Easter and actually on Easter there's a passage in here that is Easter Sunday. We're preaching it right on there. You're like it's going to be awesome, and then we are done with Matthew. Can I get an amen? And then we're going to start back at Matthew again, just kidding.

Speaker 2: 6:01

So for today, jesus, now Jesus has not paused. A couple of weeks ago I came up here and I showed you all the red letters. He is speaking straight through 23, 24, and now 25. He left Jerusalem with his disciples. He is now sitting at the Mount of Olives and he is still talking from 24. It's a continuation on. He hasn't paused.

Speaker 2: 6:22

I would actually argue he may have not even taken a breath yet, but he is delivering the exact same message, because he's in the middle of a discourse. In fact, you'll see it If you go back and read it in 24, and then the start of 25, and then, as it picks up, if you were to look at verse 14, he says again I tell you. It's as if he's like I've got something I need you to understand. Okay, you didn't get it, I'm going to try and tell it to you a different way. Okay, you didn't get it that way, so I'm going to tell it to you a different way. And he really is delivering the same message, which gets creative when you have to then deliver that each week differently, but in that it really is the same message that he understands that his people aren't getting it, and so if they're not getting it, chances are I'm probably not getting it either.

Speaker 2: 7:05

Now, don't forget, this is also a few days before he lays, willingly, lays, his life down. So this is effectively Wednesday before Good Friday, before Easter, so just get a sense of that. He is this week going to be teaching through what is called a parable. A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. That was the definition that was given to me. I think that that's a really workable phrasing of that. You'll also notice in the parable that you'll see the word like in there a lot, as if to say we can't fully comprehend a godly concept. So then Jesus is going to use human language to try and connect the two together. So that's what you're going to see For this one at the end of 24, it says at that time of separation, and then he goes straight into the parable, as if to say you didn't get it. Let me see if I can tell this to you a different way.

Speaker 2: 7:56

And so then, with parables, a couple of things that you need to understand with the parables is this One is that parables are just like every other part of scripture that we teach the inspired word of God. So it has authority, it's authoritative and you have to read it differently, but it is something that you can trust is also the word of God. Now here's the other part. It's not a historical event. There was never an event where 10 virgins came with oil lamps. It's a story, but that story was taught, so in that it's not a historical event. There was a time in space and history when Jesus actually taught this message.

Speaker 2: 8:31

And then the third part of it is this is that when you teach parables, you will usually see that there is a single truth within adjacent reminders, but then there's going to be one thing that you're going to walk away from and go. There's something that I've learned from this. There's other parts that we can learn as well, but it really is kind of one truth. And then, within the context of the parable, you really can know everything that you need to know. Meaning because of the people that were sitting and listening to this parable. As he says, I'm going to tell you everything that you need to know. You could do study afterwards and learn other parts of it, which is some of what we're going to be doing today, but really in this imagery, there's everything you need to know within the context.

Speaker 2: 9:11

So in here, I think that there were four elements that I wanted to make sure that you understood, because I think that there are these parts of the parable that are going to help deepen our understanding of Jesus's imminent return and our posture in waiting in that. So, then, we've got four elements that I wanted you to look at, and the first one is this it is the virgin or the bride. There's a cultural expectation, as you were heading into marriage, that you would be reserving your whole heart and your life for another person, and so that was why they referred to it as a virgin, but it's also interchangeable with that idea of a bride waiting to be married. I think that it's also symbolic of us is that Jesus is asking, through his own sacrifice, is that he's asking for our first and our best, this character of the bride waiting for the groom to return. There's lots of different places in scripture where you'll see that character. In here, it is a professor of religion and a member of the church. In the Psalms they're called the companions, in Isaiah they're called children and ornaments or the followers of the lamb, but in here and then in Revelation, is that they're referred to as a virgin or a bride, which, if you're new to scripture or new to the church, you might be like that's really sweet, and for other people you might be like that's super weird. I don't, why are we talking about this? But that gives you a little bit of context. So that's the first element.

Speaker 2: 10:31

Second element is this is that it is it's set in the context of a wedding, and so in Bible times or in these Jewish times, is that there's two parts to this. The first part is when the groom comes to claim the bride. That's not necessarily common for today, but it was that the groom would come and to take the bride from their family. We're not actually referred to as the bride of Christ. If you're familiar with scriptures that there's that reference of being called the bride of Christ, but that terminology isn't used until Ephesians 5. So, while Jesus is alluding to it, that's not exactly what is meant here. That's not the full imagery that's being articulated is that idea of the bride of Christ. However, we are a bride waiting for our groom, jesus, to return. And then that third part, or the second part of the, is that Jesus then leads his bride into what you will see in this parable of the banquet or the feast or the wedding reception that some went into and then some didn't. So that's the second part of the wedding.

Speaker 2: 11:26

The third is the number 10. 10 was a very popular number in Jewish times. They liked this number. They actually focused on different numbers for different reasons. For this one, it's interesting that the number 10 would be considered. If 10 people were together, it was considered a congregation. So for them, the reason that Jesus uses 10 in this is he's saying there are 10 people in this context, virgins or brides that have gathered together, and that they are a congregation. And then what we see is that, even though there are 10 here, there are some all a congregation, however, some of them faith, and yet they are not welcomed into the banquet or into heaven afterwards because of the fact that, while they look the same as everyone else, is that they were different and that's what Jesus was teaching in 24. And while that concept is difficult to sometimes hear and understand, is that the message is very similar Again from 24 and 25, and then we're gonna continue on with this. There's prophecy, there's illusion, there's foreshadowing to what is to come, and it's saying that this is my expectations of the church of Israel and then also for us for 2000 years is that there is a way that we are to live and respond and posture and position ourselves for Christ's imminent return.

Speaker 2: 12:35

So you have the virgins and the brides, you have the wedding and the ten and then the fourth one. There would be the lamps and the light and the oil. For the people who heard this, obviously there would be imagery going back to Exodus 27, where it's the imagery of the tabernacle oil that was used to keep the lamps lit. But I think it's a little bit more than that. Most believe that this lamp and the light and the oil were the fuel. Some believe that it was the Spirit of God that was burning brightly in some of them.

Speaker 2: 13:04

I think, based on what I see here, I don't necessarily believe that the oil represents the Holy Spirit or the Holy Spirit exclusively, because for some of the brides it's that their oil ran out and so then, if they had the Holy Spirit, what we see is that the Holy Spirit comes and seals. That's not something that you can lose. So I actually think that this is a little less that. Now it could be that the Holy Spirit is there and dwelling among those who have said yes to Jesus and have submitted their lives to Jesus, and then the others are recipients of that same light. So they're kind of Holy Spirit adjacent.

Speaker 2: 13:34

But I actually think that the parable seems to point a little bit more towards God's word, dwelling in them and leading them and teaching them and guiding them, similar to the Spirit, and in this I think I'm mindful of the Psalms, where it says in Psalm 119, 105, it says your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. So I think that that's when you see that in there, that's what he's talking about, because lamps were used in joyful occasions. That in there, that's what he's talking about, because lamps were used in joyful occasions. It's nice to see that lamps and light and oil were expensive back then. That's what I keep trying to tell my kids today. Why are the lights still on? Please turn them off. It's really expensive. But notice this in this lamp Every virgin, every bride had a lamp. It was up to them and how they chose to use it. And so I think that that's part of the truth in this that going it was available to all, but some of them were not prepared. How foolish.

Speaker 2: 14:25

So then, for us, what do we and how do we posture ourselves? Because I think that there are four aspects that I see in this passage that we can learn from. There could be more. I'm not saying that these are the only four. These are four that I'm going to point out. If I pointed out more is that you might miss the whole 49ers game. So I figured we just do four for now and then we can go. But the first one is this. So here are the postures. These are aspects and elements to waiting. Waiting is difficult, we believe. Based on scripture, we see Jesus is returning, so how are we to posture ourselves? The first is this I think we're called to wait wisely. To wait wisely, and in that, jesus has said I will come back. So then, what does that look like?

Speaker 2: 15:04

Matthew 25, two through four, says it like this. It says five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them, their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in their jars along with them. This parable is all about the wisdom and the foolishness of the virgins. I think it's funny if you read this translation in the message, which is a paraphrase, they call them silly virgins. It's just like silly virgins.

Speaker 2: 15:34

24, if you look back to the last chapter. 24 is talking about the nation of Israel and the church, and in January, again, we're going to talk about how to wisely invest your life, but for today, we sit and talk in the waiting, which feels like inactivity. So then, oftentimes, when you go, well, I'm not doing anything, you go. Well, then what can I do? I'm like, yeah, that's fine, I'm not doing anything, but I can still do something. And you go, okay, that's fine. What can we do? The first would be to wisely live.

Speaker 2: 16:03

I've spent so much of my life, and especially in my earlier Christian life, of going. What are the areas of my life that are a sin? I don't want to sin. I've been told Jesus died for my sins. I don't want to sin, I don't want to separate myself from God. So what is sin? And while I see Scripture is clear there are sins, there are things that we are to do and not do, there are things outside of the will of God that we are not to participate in. However, I see I also see Scripture point a lot to things that are both wise and unwise, and I think it's why Jesus even comes to say I have come to give you life, and life abundantly, meaning that I believe that there will be people on this earth that will live unwisely, that we may still see in heaven. So this isn't just about fire insurance. It's saying that God has come to give us life right now, and life abundantly. So, then, there's a wisdom in how we're supposed to posture ourselves.

Speaker 2: 16:51

One of my favorite shows when I was growing up was a show called the Simpsons. Anybody ever watched the Simpsons Still on today. I don't watch it, but there was. One of my favorite episodes is when Marge and Homer went to the fair. And they went to the fair and he did this to his shirt. He deep fried his shirt, that's why it's brown, because at the fair that's what you get to do. And he said this phrase that has always stuck with me he goes see, I told you I could deep fry my shirt and she goes. I didn't say you couldn't, I said you shouldn't.

Speaker 2: 17:20

And I think that that's true for us today as well, and in this it brings to mind, or it says in 1 Corinthians 10, 23, everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. And so while, again, while sin grieves God's heart, there is also a sense of going, there is a posture and a position that we can take that wisely, affirms him and then brings other people in. Interestingly enough is that nobody ever, or rarely, do people wake up and say you know what? I'm gonna be more foolish today? They just do it. You just kind of wake up and whoops your way into that. We can become wiser and in fact, I thought it was interesting that it does tell us how to be wiser. There's characteristics of a wise person that I think apply for us today.

Speaker 2: 18:02

Did you know that in James 1, it actually says if you want wisdom, you can pray for it and you can ask for it. If you're sitting here living your life and you're like I'm acting, a fool is, you can be like God, help me be wiser. This wisdom specifically, there's a couple different types of wisdom that you see in scripture. This wisdom specifically is pronounced like this it's phronimos, or phronimos, which means to think, so it's wisdom. That's talking about thinking and actually the quality of how you think. Almost. If you're a parent, you've probably used this phrase when you're interacting with your kids. What are you thinking? Have you ever anybody, or is that just me? Okay, just me, right, right, but it's that thing you're like. I saw you do, I saw you think about something. I saw you do it, I saw it happen. What were you thinking?

Speaker 2: 18:46

What was your thought process as you were going along in that, a couple weeks ago, our youngest daughter we have a daughter named Charlotte, she's 14. She's a freshman at Benicia High School and she called her mom and she goes hey mom, during school, middle of school, she goes hey mom, listen, what would you think if I, like I don't know, I kind of want to get, like my ear pierced for a second time, and she's like weird time to call about this. But sure, yeah, why? I mean, yeah, if you want, we could save for it, or half for you, half for me. You know, christmas is coming up, maybe we can save for she goes okay, cool, hey mom, what do you think about? Like, if I already had pierced my ear a second time in the bathroom with a kit that somebody bought off Amazon, I was like, oh my gosh, what were you thinking? Now here's the part. I got permission from my daughter to share this, but I had to share two things One, she goes I lined them up perfectly and no infection.

Speaker 2: 19:42

So really wise, really wise, right? But it's that idea of like, what are you thinking when you're doing this, what was your thought process along the way? And so you can pray for wisdom, you can posture and position yourself, and in that is that there's a few things that you can step into in this idea of wisdom, the first being that wisdom produces hard work and not laziness, and we see that in Proverbs 6, 6 through 9, where it's a sense of there's diligence and that there's an effort that's going into the things that they're doing. Secondly is that you can is when you hear something, when somebody delivers wisdom to you, and then you act differently because of it. That's Matthew 7, 24. It's this idea and a sense of almost being obedient that you go oh, somebody's told me that I'm supposed to do something and then I act on that.

Speaker 2: 20:26

This type of wisdom talks about being shrewd like wolves Matthew 10, 16,. It's that we have discernment. It's that as we pray and we go, I'm interacting with this person, I'm stepping into a business deal, I'm dealing with people. Is there a wisdom? And there actually is. We're called to be shrewd in that. We'll talk about it next time, but also last week we talked about this idea of being good at investing assets. Matthew 24, 25 talks about being stewards, or stewarding our funds.

Speaker 2: 20:52

Well, and then also, I thought this one was interesting because it says you can be a fool for Christ and wise in Christ at the same time, and that's in 1 Corinthians 4.10. So then that's, the first one is wisdom to act wisely. And then from there is, I think, that we can not only act wisely, but I think that we can also or to wait wisely, but then we can also wait with preparation, or wait prepared. Taking on that posture and to sit and wait is that once you have ingested some of the wisdom, or interacted and trusted God with that wisdom that he's going to give you, is that you wait prepared. Matthew 25, 1, and then we're going to jump to 7 and 8. It says it like this At that time, the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

Speaker 2: 21:37

Then all the virgins woke up. So then what you see here is that the unwise were then unprepared. I would declare something like this is that I think that to live with preparation is the manifestation of wisdom, so that as you are preparing, it's because there has been wisdom that has already been invested in you. I'll tell it to you like this. It's like if you were to go camping, which I'm not totally sure why camping, but whatever. That's different strokes for different people. But you go camping and somebody says, hey, if you're going to go camping you should probably pack some extra batteries. I've gone before my batteries have ran out. That would be a wise thing to do. The preparation part of that would be for you to go to Walmart and actually pick up the extra batteries. So again, that's kind of the both wisdom of it and then the preparation, and those are the two sides of the coin. But this is this.

Speaker 2: 22:34

And for these brides it's attributed to foolish and unprepared living, which is true for us, I mean, I think our faith can become complacent and forgetful. Why? Because it's probably easier to start preparing tomorrow. When's the best day to start a diet Tomorrow? How about a budget Tomorrow, exercising Absolutely tomorrow? All those things are better tomorrow.

Speaker 2: 22:56

And in the same sense that, as we are preparing for Jesus's return, how are we to posture our lives Tomorrow? But what we see in scripture is that Jesus says it may not be today, but I will return. 25.1 says that to meet the bridegroom not if the bridegroom returns. So it's not. If it's when and when Jesus returns, are we ready to meet him? And, as a Christian, what does it look like for us to even be ready?

Speaker 2: 23:26

I get this question all the time, and I've probably had it myself is to say, when are the end times starting or are we in the end times? And based on if I were to ask everyone today, you'd probably say we are smack dab in the middle of the end times. Here's what I'll tell you we are in the middle of the end times, but we have been for 2,000 years. We have been at the point that Jesus ascended and sat at the right hand of the Father. Is that that began the clock of when this is going to happen? And here's what I can say with absolute assurance it's. We are one day closer today than we were yesterday, and I wish that I could give you a better timeline than that Feels kind of like talking to a mechanic sometimes When's the car gonna be done? I can tell you it's sooner now than it was when you called yesterday, and so that may be a little frustrating, but I can tell you this is that we are in a position of waiting right now, and we are closer. Jesus will return and he will reestablish that kingdom and establish a new heaven and a new earth. And so then I ask you the question that I already mentioned once are we living with anticipation, doing something about it, in anticipation for that which is coming, or are we living with anxiety, where we are just sitting and worrying and believing there's an imminent return, but not then doing anything to wisely prepare ourselves?

Speaker 2: 24:33

If Jesus is what he says he is and what I see in scripture, and how the spirit leads and what we teach at Northgate, then it is very, very simple and we have much to do. There is much to prepare. Love God, love people. It's why we have shared, since January, this idea of representing or to represent. It calls us, then. What's our response? It's to be present with God, to allow him to form us and shape us and change us into who we are, to be more like him. So we are present with God, so that we can represent so in the same way. Let your light shine before others. They may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven, and then to represent him to a world that desperately needs those who are unchurched and anti-churched and de-churched, that we then get to represent. So, then, it's a heart posture, but it's also something that is very active.

Speaker 2: 25:25

Hebrews 10, 24 and 25 says it this way, and let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another. How, when? And all the more as you see the day approaching it is closer today than it was yesterday. So, my friends, as you sit here and as we worship and as we support one another, and as we talked about even this morning I was talking with our staff is that we are instilling courage, we are encouraging others In times when we are weary and down and broken? Is that we are instilling courage? We are encouraging others in times when we are weary and down and broken? Is that we look at others and we encourage and we say have courage. Now we will continue to gather together because it's difficult.

Speaker 2: 26:06

And then, as the day draws near, are we then professing a hope without unwavering, or are we preparing, but only in simple ways of stockpiling food and water and supplies, which is good but not complete? The bridegroom is coming and you see that as the bride wakes up, she wakes up in anticipation because she's eager for what is to come. Are we doing the same? Is that our heart and our posture? And while it's been 2000 years, do we continue to trust that Jesus is doing and he is working? And while time seems been 2000 years, we continue to trust that Jesus is doing and he is working, and while time seems long for us, that is, I believe time is something that we live in to understand what God is doing and he is living outside of time. There's a third aspect to this as well. I think that, as we wait with wisdom and then we wait with preparation, I think that we also have an opportunity to wait with hope, which might be the part right now that I think that we as a community struggle with, not only this community but the culture that we live in.

Speaker 2: 27:09

Matthew 25, five through six, says it was this way the bridegroom was a long time in coming, feels like that right, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, the cry rang out here's the bridegroom, come out and meet him, jesus returning, doing exactly what he said he would do. All had fallen asleep, but only some had prepared in such a way that they had had a hope that he was actually going to return, just as he said he would. Had had a hope that he was actually going to return just as he said he would. Now, I don't know I own a dog and I don't know if this is why my dog does this, but every day that I return home, my dog sits in the exact same place. It is at the front corner of our couch and she sits there and waits. And every time that I open up the door, she's excited. And I'm not even her favorite person in the house, but I open up the door and she's like you're here, I knew it.

Speaker 2: 27:59

I knew you were going to be here and I got so much to fill you in on. It was great. And the Amazon driver came and I barked at them and then the mail came Don't worry, I barked at them as well. And then I sat here and I took eight naps and everything's great and I spun around a little. I'm so happy that you're here.

Speaker 2: 28:18

Do we have any of that posture as we sit and that we wait with probably let's be honest a little bit of doubt? You have those days you say you go, man, I don't know how much longer I can hold on. I'm losing hope. And yet I think what my hope is is that, like my dog, is that when Jesus returns, if I'm here on earth, at that point I'm like you did it. You made it back.

Speaker 2: 28:43

I didn't know. I doubted a little bit, I'm going to be honest, and I was super busy and I was hanging out here at Northgate and I talked to a lot of people Look, these are the friends that I brought. This is what I did. I waited wisely and I waited with preparation and I waited with hope, and I'm so glad that you're here. And I kind of doubted, but I knew you were gonna come and you're here and I'm so glad. Right, what a posture and a position that we get to take. Are you excited like that? Does it even matter? Does it matter? Or have you and again, this is where I send it with you or have you lost hope? Because there's a lot of days where I am nothing like that, and when Christ returns, we have been invited to spend eternity with him. Now I would encourage you to rather view that, rather than being, as a threat. There's that old bumper sticker that says Jesus is coming back. Look busy. You ever seen that? Just me. Rather than viewing it as a threat or a punishment, look at it as a promise Sealed with love and a sacrifice. He's returning, he's going to take those that he loves with him and he will make all that is wrong, which is much right. And if that is indeed what we believe, then we must spend every day reminding ourselves and each other with God's word and his spirit that dwells in us, because there are days that my cold dead heart forgets that and I lose hope. I think so oftentimes.

Speaker 2: 30:11

If we are saying that we are waiting with hope, our hope is misaligned. Is that it's less about actually a rooted, firm, foundational hope. It becomes more a hope of almost like a Christian wish. You ever thought that about hope? It's a Christian wish. You're like I'm going to cross my fingers, I'll put my hands together because that's what you're supposed to do when you pray. But really my hope doesn't feel, it's just, it's not grounded in anything, it's just hope. We have a signed contract, we have a check ready to cash and then we have been invited into the fullness of life. While we are waiting, there is still much to do and we get to step into that, not only for ourselves but for those who need to hear and experience and feel that hope that we get to live a life that is new in Jesus.

Speaker 2: 30:56

From this I thought it was a good definition of hope. It says people speak of hope as if it is a delicate, ephemeral thing made of whispers and spider webs. It's not Hope. Has dirt on her face and blood on her knuckles, the grid of the cobblestone in her hair and just spat out a tooth as she rises for another go. That's hope. That's hope that you sit there and go. I'm gonna fight another day. That's the hope when I have people come and they're fighting illnesses and that they're fighting divorce and disappointment and debt and disease. When people come, I go. That's hope. That feels like a definition when you see in Hebrews 10, 23 and 24, where it says let us hold to unswerving hope. That's that hope. Hope isn't delicate and gentle. Let's get our hands dirty and let's trust in what Jesus has done, because that is what is needed.

Speaker 2: 31:48

We live in a world that has lost a lot of hope and if we can be honest is that if they haven't lost hope, they've put their hope in something very temporary that does not feel anything like actual hope. I've been around enough to see that about every four years, people either get really excited about the state of the world or very disappointed about the state of the world and while I can understand that there's reasons to be concerned about any political nature and climate, I sit here and I just go. Really that's not worth hoping in. Those are people, those are human beings. Any one of them and any one of them is going to make mistakes. They are going to rise and fall and any time that we see throughout scripture that we are entrusting people more than we are trusting God, it doesn't go well for them, when people sit here and go, that there is some person who is going to ultimately bring hope that ends in destruction. So may we not put hope in a system or a person, because they and I are all broken and flawed human beings and that hope needs to come from something else, and that's Jesus. And then, as we say that Jesus's hands are big enough to hold the hope that he seems to be professing, he's the only one that can carry that. He is the only one that we can trust in. And then, as we see him hold and carry that hope, we become professors and proclaimers of that hope. Not ours, not a party, not an election day that's not going to fix it. We live in a broken world and all we see is that at some point he's coming back. That's what we hope in, and in the meantime, that's what we wait, wisely prepared, in hope for Jesus, and then let other people know because they're having a rougher day than we are.

Speaker 2: 33:30

Matthew 5, 14 through 16 says it like this you are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand and it gives everyone light to, or it gives light to everyone in the house In the same way. Let your light shine before others that they may see our good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. We are not hope. We are not hope. Political parties are not hope. Kings and rulers are not hope. We are a lighthouse declaring hope, pointing out the craggly rocks and the things that people are going to be crashing into, and then illuminating the one who is to come. That's the hope that we're pointing to, that's the hope that people need and that's the thing that is able to actually carry the weight of all that is going on right now. And so we have hope in Jesus and we also be hope for Jesus.

Speaker 2: 34:27

Then there's a fourth one that I want to add to this. It's to wait wisely, wait with preparation, wait with hope. And then this fourth one and it's not just a list you know when you took finals and you would ask the professor the day before the final, you'd be like is this final on the last chapter or is it cumulative? Right, and they'd always be like it's cumulative, and you're like I wasn't paying attention. For all that, that's unfortunate, but I think this one especially, but all of them, they're cumulative is that we are waiting watchfully, with wise, prepared hope. Matthew 25, 9-13 says it like this no, they replied, there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves. But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in and with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. Later the others also came, lord, lord, they said open the door for us. But he replied truly, I tell you, I don't know you and therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Speaker 2: 35:40

Jesus ends this parable the same way that he ended last week. And it's not keep watch and to stand on a mountaintop and watch, but stay alert, stay awake, seek Jesus and know that. Jesus says I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And he also says all are welcome. And so, my friends, if we are teaching a narrow path of salvation, it must come and be delivered with the wide arms of grace, because that's Jesus. Be watchful, stay alert, seek Jesus, because there will come a day when some who claim to know Jesus will not be welcomed into heaven. And again, that is not a threat, it's a warning, and it's not to scare, it is actually to motivate, to stay awake and alert, because Jesus is declaring that we are not let in on someone else's oil. We aren't.

Speaker 2: 36:34

And so, my friends and students, especially you are not saved by your parents' faith. That's how you, hopefully, are introduced to Jesus but you are not saved by your parents' faith. You cannot borrow somebody else's wisdom and preparation and hope and get in on that. You are not saved through a program at Northgate. None of those things will get you there, and so it is more a position of that. These are the things that then prepare you for making that decision on your own.

Speaker 2: 37:03

And so, then, this is a call to trust in the one true Jesus that we see in scripture, that is proclaimed and has been taught all the way through Matthew, because it's true. It's true, he will make all that is wrong right, and, on a day where everything has gone wrong for you is that you want justice, which he will bring. He will also bring mercy and reckoning. All of those things come, and I think that it's interesting is that when we've been wrong, we want justice. When we've messed up, we want grace. Both will come.

Speaker 2: 37:32

And I've also found that when things are going well, or actually when things are going poorly and you don't like the landscape of what we see, we're like Lord Jesus, come. But when things are going well, you're like if you wanna hold off for a little bit longer, I got a few other things I wanna take care of and my schedule isn't really available for you to return, so just take a beat. And I don't know when it is, but this is the in-between, this is the trusting, and it's only by the saving blood of Jesus that we get to sit and wait and have a full faith, assurance of what it is that we get to step into, and it's available for all. Only some will say yes. So then may we be wise people who position ourselves rightly. Don't lose perspective in this time. If you've been on this earth for any years, then the waiting has probably gotten you off track at one point or another, that you are not capturing every day and moment and every hour for Jesus and maximizing this life. I don't. If you do, then you should write a book, because you'll make millions.

Speaker 2: 38:46

I get off track. I tracked it up, I went and I wrote down. Here are all the things that I wasted good American minutes on this week for things that weren't of Jesus. And I just got all wound up about something. I got wound up and lost focus on DoorDash Diet Coke. Somebody was out of Diet Coke. I was like how dare you, good day, slow traffic cats. I got all wound up about that. One might actually be okay. I got incensed like almost how dare you? I was dismissed last at a meal like a big group meal, and I was the last one. I was like how dare you, good day, I got wound up about cold foam this week. I got all one and I just think that let's say, let's say I got all wound up about cold foam this week and then Jesus comes back and he's like what did you do with your time? I'm like well, I told some people about you and I also got really cranky at a Starbucks employee because they didn't give me enough cold foam.

Speaker 2: 40:01

Well done, good and faithful servant Like that's oh, the waiting's hard, but don't lose track of what God has invited us into, which is that, as we sit here today and we lean into God's truth in our lives. He hasn't returned yet. There's still time, and so he has given us breath in our lungs and a chance today to say yes to Jesus and bring others with us. We still have time, and so to invite God in, to search our hearts and know that truth. That's what we get a chance to do. So, my friends, don't grow weary of seeking Jesus with these different aspects of waiting, of waiting wisely, waiting with preparation, waiting with hope and waiting watchfully.

Speaker 2: 40:53

All four of those, though they are more head and heart postures, really are able to envelop the life that then God wants you to step in and live with him, and I think it's why we see in Ephesians 5.14,. It says this is why it is said wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. And so, father, we in the waiting ask for you to be faithful, ask for you to meet us in our cold, doubtful hearts, ask for you to step in and do that which only you can do. And, god, would you push us towards a wise preparation that is filled with hope, and that we are eager for you to make all that is wrong right, but for today. We wait, we hope, we trust in you and you alone. In your name we pray Amen.