"Be Prepared"

Dear Friends in Christ,         

                “Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”  Do you know who spoke that quote?  It was the legendary college basketball coach John Wooden.  Based off of that quote Coach Wooden had his teams prepared for victory.  During his time coaching at UCLA, Wooden, won ten national championships in a span of twelve years, and seven of those were in a row, also one of his teams won 88 consecutive games, which is still the record for NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball.  Wooden’s resume speaks for itself about being prepared.

                Preparation wasn’t only important to Coach Wooden but it was important in the parable Jesus told in the Gospel Reading for today.  In “The Parable of the Ten Virgins” there were five wise virgins and five foolish virgins.  The five foolish ones were prepared to fail.  They brought their lamps while they waited for the bridegroom but no oil.  On the other hand the five wise ones brought their lamps with oil.  They were prepared to succeed.  As the ten of them waited for the bridegroom who was delayed they grew tired and slept.  Finally the bridegroom had shown up, and the five foolish virgins were not prepared.  It was because of their lack of preparation they failed to enter into the marriage feast.

                The five foolish virgins assumed that they would be able to get oil at the last minute.  The problem with this assumption was that they did not know the exact time the bridegroom was going to show up and when he did show up it was too late for them to do anything about it.  Jesus was using this parable to teach everyone about what it is going to be like at the Final Judgment on the last days.  Nobody knows when Jesus is going to return for the Final Judgment.

                Even though Jesus says nobody knows when the Final Judgment is going to take place, that doesn’t mean it has stopped people from guessing when it is going to take place.  There have been many false prophets who have predicted the end of the world.  The most recent of these false prophets was Harold Camping.  He prophesied that on May 21, the final judgment would take place, and the end of the world would happen on October 21.  On May 22, Camping said he was flabbergasted that the rapture did not take place and he would have to do more research before he said anything else.  He came back on May 23 and said that he had reinterpreted his prophecy.  His new prediction was that there was a spiritual judgment day on May 21, but now on October 21 the rapture and the end of the world would both take place.  Once again Camping was wrong, as far as I know there was no rapture.

                Camping is not the first false prophet and I am sure he will not be the last false prophet.  These false prophets ignore what Jesus said in Matthew 24:36, which says, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”  Jesus is telling everyone that nobody could predict the day He will return let alone the year.  It is only God the Father who knows the exact time.  Since we do not know the exact time of Christ’s return we should always be prepared for Christ’s return, so that we are not preparing to fail the Final Judgment.

                The Bible gives us some examples of people who were not prepared when it was their time of judgment.  A perfect example of this is the flood in the book of Genesis.  Noah’s preaching and building of the ark were clear warnings that God was preparing to judge the wickedness that was going on by sending a flood.  Still, people were unprepared when the flood came.  I could only imagine what it was like for Noah.  People probably thought Noah was crazy for building an ark.  In modern measurements the ark would have been about 440 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall.  What would you think if you were driving along Main Street and you saw someone building a boat that big?  Personally I would say to myself that person is crazy!  If building a huge boat was not a warning sign, Noah was even preaching that God was going to make a judgment on all people.  The people were not even listening to what Noah was telling them.

                When did the people finally realize the flood was coming?  Matthew 24:39 gives us some insight, “…and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away…”  Talk about being prepared a little too late.  Their lack of preparation caused them to face God’s wrath and drown in the flood.

                We do not want to be like the people in Noah’s time, when it comes to the Final Judgment we want to be prepared.  How do you know if you are prepared?  Once again we can find some great words of wisdom from John Wooden.  He said, “If I were ever prosecuted for my religion, I truly hope there would be enough evidence to convict me.”  I think that is a great and powerful quote.    And I think it fits perfectly in the discussion of the Final Judgment.  As I reflect on that quote, I picture a court room setting for the Final Judgment.  What type of questions would the persecution ask?  I have a few ideas of the questions that would be asked, and that will help us to know if we are prepared for the Final Judgment.

                The first question is, “Do you believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior?”  How would you answer that question?  My prayer is that each and every one of us could answer that question with a resounding yes!  How do we know this is true?  The Bible tells us so.    Listen to the way Paul described Jesus in his greeting to the Galatians.  Galatians 1:3-4, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father…”  Jesus gave Himself when He took all of our sins upon His shoulders and died for us on the cross. 

Jesus Himself even tells us that He is the only way we will be able to spend eternity with God in heaven.  He said in John 14:6, “…I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”  Jesus is telling the whole world that He is the ONLY way to God.  If we do not believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior we will not be able to get to God our Heavenly Father.  Being able to say yes to this question is one way of being prepared for the Final Judgment.

                The second question is, “Do you believe that the sacraments are God’s visible means of His grace?”  How would you answer this question?  The answer is yes!  It is through the waters of Holy Baptism that we enter into a saving relationship with God.  When the waters of baptism touched your forehead and the pastor said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” you were marked as God’s son or daughter.  It is through this gift we are able to receive salvation that is ours through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

                The other sacrament that is the visible means of God’s grace is Holy Communion.  It is through the true body and true blood of Jesus that we receive through the Lord’s Supper that we taste our forgiveness.  Jesus sacrificed His body and blood so that all of our sins would be taken away.  When we eat of Jesus’ body and blood we are reminded of Jesus’ sacrifice which, defeated sin, death, and the devil.

                As we partake in the Lord’s Supper and are reminded of our forgiveness of sins, it also has another important aspect.  Especially today as we celebrate All Saints Day, in which we remember all of the loved ones we have lost in the past year.  The Lord’s Supper and saints who have gone before us are connected.  We know that those who have gone before us are not dealing with any of the pains and aches that they had while part of this earthly life.   Then why are we so sad when our loved ones depart from this life and enter into their heavenly home?  We are sad because we miss that person, we miss hearing that person’s voice, we miss seeing that person, and we just miss everything about that loved one we lost.  Even though that loved one has entered into his or her Heavenly home that does not mean we cannot be close to that person while we are still part of our earthly home.  When we come before the Lord’s Table we are coming before the same throne that they are at, and we are near them.  When we sing “Holy, Holy, Holy” with the whole company of angels we are singing that with the saints who are in now in heaven because that is their song and it is our song.  Next time you come before the Lord’s Table remember that you are near your loved one who is in heaven.

                The third question, would be, “Do you confess that you have sinned, and do you repent of them?”  We all our sinners, we need to be honest with ourselves and be able to confess our sins.  I was a little surprised this week when I saw a link on somebody’s Facebook about Harold Camping’s change of views.  After another false prediction of the end times Camping finally admitted in a private conversation that nobody could know exactly when the time of the apocalypse would be.  Also after decades of predicting the Final Judgment he said he was sorry and that he regrets his misdeeds.  What a shocking turn of events by Camping, but what a great change of heart!

                Confessing your sins is the first part of repentance according to Martin Luther.  According to him repentance has both terror and trust.  This is what he said in his exposition of Hosea 14:3, “Repentance is begun when we acknowledge our sins and are sincerely sorry for them; it is completed when trust in the mercy of God comes to this sorrow and hearts are converted to God and long for the forgiveness of sins.”  As our hearts our converted to God, we strive to not commit the same sins again.  It is because of our repentant hearts we know we can cling to the promise of the cross, and know that because God has taken mercy upon us.

                When Judgment Day comes how will you be prepared, like the 5 virgins who did not have oil or like the 5 virgins who had oil for their lamps?  A lack of preparation will only lead to failure and disappointment.  Coach Wooden showed what can happen when you are prepared.  Wooden’s teams were successful because they were prepared.  He does not only give us a great example of being prepared, he also gives us a great example of a Christian man.  His quote, “If I were ever prosecuted for my religion, I truly hope there would be enough evidence to convict me” is a great quote to live by.  We do not know when the Final Judgment will take place but if we know that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, the sacraments are the visible means of grace, and if we are willing to confess and repent of our sins, we will be prepared for any prosecution we will face at the Final Judgment.                         

Amen.