The point of today's parable is preparation. Simply put, there were five virgins who were prepared to meet the bridegroom and celebrate his marriage and there were five virgins who were not prepared and, therefore, excluded from the nuptial festivities.

Both preparation and the lack of preparation carry consequences in every area of life. The student who refuses to prepare for a difficult exam will likely fail the test. The athlete who neglects preparation will likely render a disappointing performance. But the consequences of the lack of preparation when it comes to our spiritual life far outweigh a failed test or a lost game. As our parable shows us, the consequences are eternal.

Jesus calls the five virgins who were prepared "wise." Now, in the Scriptures, wisdom is not equated with a high IQ or great learning. One may be wise without being very smart. In the Bible wisdom is seeing things - seeing all of life - from God's perspective. For example, our Lord tells the story in Matthew 7 of the wise man who build his house on the rock. Jesus says, "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house for it was founded on the rock." In other words, the wise man knows that only a life built on the words of Jesus will endure, for even though the heavens and the earth pass away, His words will never pass away. It is no wonder, then, that Moses prays in Psalm 90 saying, "So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Moses' prayer is not simply that we might be smart, but that we might see our fleeting days from God's perspective.

The five virgins were wise. They did not live for the moment. They lived as those who had been invited to a wedding. They did not know at what hour the bridegroom would come and lead them into the wedding hall. They did not know when the party would begin. But they knew that the bridegroom was coming and that they were his invited guests. So their lives are lived toward that wedding. Nothing else was as important as was that wedding. So they are prepared for the wait. They check their lamps. They buy extra oil. Their flasks are full.

No doubt they seemed kind of foolish lugging around those extra jars of oil. Maybe they were called silly for being so concerned with having enough oil for a long wait. Perhaps they were told to loosen up and have a good time and not to be running back and forth to the oil shop. Nevertheless, these wise women paid attention to the oil and when the bridegroom finally arrived, they were prepared. They were ready to take part in the marriage feast.

It is now too late for the five foolish virgins. The bridegroom arrives and there is no more opportunity to purchase oil. They are unprepared for the feast and unable to enter into the joy of the celebration. The door is shut and they are excluded.

What does this mean for us? Jesus' own explanation of the parable says it all, "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming." We do not know when the Lord will return. As we heard two weeks ago, our Lord's coming will be sudden, like a flash of lightening. He will come with the suddenness of the flood which came as a surprise to the unbelievers of Noah's day. He will come with the suddenness which caught the unbelieving population of Sodom and Gomorrah off guard. So Jesus tells us to watch.

Watching does not mean that we are given to speculation about the day or the hour. The history of Christianity is full of stories of those people who believed that they could establish the day, if not the hour, of the Lord's return. In the early years of the church, the Apostle Paul had to correct the Thessalonians on this very point. At the end of the first millennium there were those were convinced that Christ would return in the year 1000. More recently Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses have attempted to set a time for Jesus' return only to be put in a position of having to recalculate. Even as we approach the year 2000, we hear of people predicting the end of the world.

As surely as our Lord came in flesh and blood to suffer and die for the sins of the world, so surely will He come again to judge the living and the dead. But we do not know and we need not know the day nor the hour. God calls us not to speculation but preparation.

Jesus says, "Watch." We are called to vigilance. A church that ceases to watch will lose the Gospel. A church that becomes lazy or complacent regarding God's doctrine is in danger of apostasy, of loss of faith. Therefore, the Apostle Paul writes to Pastor Timothy and all pastors: "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers" (I Tim. 4:16). Our watching is not a gazing up into the heavens, but attentiveness to the voice of our Good Shepherd as He speaks to us in His Word. We are now living in that evil age which Paul spoke about when he said, "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from the truth to wander into myths" (II Tim. 4:3). We are to watch by holding fast God's Word, hearing it, learning it, and taking it to heart.

We, like the virgins in today's parable, are living in the evening of the wedding feast. We are living in the time when the oil is still available. In fact, there is more than enough oil. For the oil of the forgiveness of sins purchased and won by our Savior through His atoning death on the cross is for the whole world. There is no shortage of supply in His grace and mercy. This oil is distributed now in the preaching of the Gospel and the giving out of Jesus' body and blood in the Holy Supper. The wise cannot get enough of these for they always give us more of Jesus, and the more we get of Him, the more ready and eager we are to receive Him when He comes again in glory.

The wise know who they are waiting for. The One who is coming is the Bridegroom, Christ Jesus. He is the Lord who loves His church "and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water and the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish"(Eph. 5:26-27). He is coming to take us unto Himself as His holy bride.

What awaits those who are prepared is a wedding feast, "The Lamb's High Feast," as the hymn puts it. A new heaven and a new earth. No more tears. No more sorrow. No more crying. No more pain. All things made new. The Alpha and the Omega. The water of life. The consummation of our redemption. The fulfillment of our salvation. And so we pray:

Now come, O blessed one,
      Lord Jesus, God's own Son.
Hail! Hosanna! We answer all
      In joy your call,
We follow to the wedding hall. (LW 177:2)

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hears and minds in Christ Jesus to life everlasting. Amen.