+ 24th Sunday after Pentecost – November 8th, 2026 +
Series A: Amos 5:8-14; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A good detective story will keep you guessing, sometimes down to the very last page, “who dunnit?”
But when it comes to Jesus’ parables about the last days and his return in glory, our Lord
has no problem with spoiler alerts. Christ has conquered sin, death, and the serpent for you. He has overcome everything that overwhelms and overcomes you. There’s a seat at the marriage supper of the Lamb with your name on it.
This is the Christian hope. The hope of the saints we remembered last Sunday. The hope that's yours in holy baptism. Hope in Christ is never a question mark. It is always an exclamation point. Christ the Bridegroom will come.
The wise maidens in the parable know this. The bridegroom is coming. So, they prepare for his arrival. They know the end of the story, and still, they plan and prepare and wait and watch according to the bridegroom’s word. The wise maidens live, day and night, by the Bridegroom’s words.
And so do we. All the maidens had their lamps but only the wise ones had enough oil. And Christ the Bridegroom has given you something far better.
we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts
Knowing the end of the story doesn’t mean you close the Bridegroom’s book and shut your ears to his word. Open his word. Hear. Read. Mark. Learn. Inwardly digest the Bridegroom’s words. Live in them until they become the air you breathe, until the Bridegroom's words shape your words. And even then, keep, guard, cherish, treasure, stock up on his word like the wise maidens with their oil. Light the lamp and never put it out or hide it. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
And what does Christ our Bridegroom say?
“Watch, therefore. For you neither know the day nor the hour.”
And when the Bridegroom says, “Watch”, where do you turn your eyes? Are your eyes fixed on the clock and the chaos of current events more than Christ crucified? Are our eyes more attentive to the breaking news than the holy vocations our Lord has given each of us? Are your fingers quicker to scroll through social media than they are to open the Holy Scriptures to hear the Bridegroom’s voice?
In these last days Christ our Bridegroom calls us to live as the wise maidens in his parable. Watching. Waiting. Hanging on the word of the Bridegroom. “Watch! Keep Awake!”
Christ our bridegroom not only gives his promise: he will come. He sets a light for you, a sacred, holy fire for you that is unfading, unfailing, undying, inextinguishable. For by his holy word he prepares you for his arrival. By his word he keeps you awake and watchful. By his word he shines the light of his steadfast love into your ears. By his word he keeps the darkness at bay.
Like the maidens we live in darkness. We know there are days when the night of disease and despair come upon us. When the swirling abyss of anxiety and fear threaten to swallow you whole. When grief, guilt, shame, and sin pour over you like dirt over a coffin. When death itself stretches out its long black robed hands.
That is when the Bridegroom speaks to you as he did in creation. He utters a holy word. “Let there be light.” And there was light. Let there be forgiveness and there is. Let there be water and words kindle the fire of the Holy Spirit upon you and within you. Let there be a voice in the dark, a shelter from the storm, that declares you are forgiven all your sin. Let there be a cup of wine and a plate of bread where the Bridegroom speaks his word and prepares for you a feast. Take eat, this is my body. Take, drink. This is my blood shed for you.
It’s not so much about what the 5 wise girls do, but who they are. They are wise because they know the Bridegroom will come. No matter how long the delay. No matter how long they wait and watch. Even if they grow weary and rest. The Bridegroom will come. The wise maidens live their life entirely by the words of the Bridegroom. And so do you. “Watch, therefore. For you neither know the day nor the hour.”
For the same Lord who says, “Watch”, also says, “I am with you, even to the end of the age.”
The same Lord who will come again in glory riding the clouds of heaven, also comes for you today humbly yet holy, inviting you to his table, feeding you, forgiving you in his body and his blood.
Christ our Bridegroom, who bids you watch and wait in eventide of these last days has already been swallowed up in darkness on the cross, conquered the gloom of the grave, and risen from the dead for you.
In these last days, we live as the wise maidens. We wait. Watch. Keep our lamps trimmed and burning. Your ears hanging on the living word of the Bridegroom. We encourage one another with Christ’s words. For he who calls out to you, “Watch” will one day send his holy angels to cry out: “Here is the Bridegroom. Come out to meet him!”
Until that day, Christ our Bridegroom does not leave us to wonder who dunnit? He tells us the end of the story again and again and again. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
