Are you ready?

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.  The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.  The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

At midnight the cry rang out: `Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'  Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.  The foolish ones said to the wise, `Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' `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 with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.  Later the others also came. `Sir! Sir!' they said. `Open the door for us!'  But he replied, `I tell you the truth, I don't know you.'

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour (Matthew 25:1-13).

When are you going to die?  How are you going to die?  Are you ready for your death?

Uncomfortable questions.  Questions you’d just as soon not think about.  But the sad truth is that none of us is getting any younger.  Each morning when we get out of bed, we are one day nearer to closing our eyes for the final time.

Jesus says keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.  None of us knows how or when our lives will finally come to an end.  Today might be your last.  Are you prepared for that eventuality?

In one of his prayers Luther asked God, “save me from an evil death.”  For Luther, an ‘evil death’ was one that came suddenly out of nowhere, catching you off guard.  When life reached its end, Luther wanted to be surrounded by family and friends.  He wanted one last opportunity to apologize for any hurts he had caused.  He wanted one last chance to say out loud how much he loved and appreciated them.  He wanted a few more minutes to reassure them that because of Jesus, death was nothing to be feared—soon he would be face to face with the Savior, and would speak to the Son of God as a man does with his friends.   Luther did not want death to blind-side him; he wanted his last hours to be a time of loving farewells.

There are many ways to die suddenly and unexpectedly.  A deer could hit your car.  You could have a fatal heart attack.  You could slip in the shower and hit your head as you fall.  You could accidentally touch a hot wire and be electrocuted.  You could get shot by a careless hunter or desperate criminal.  You could be fatally injured by farm machinery.  Or God could just crook His finger and say, ‘your time on earth is over.’  We all hope for death to give us some advance warning, but many times it does not.

Most of us live as if tomorrow is a sure thing.  When you’re young, death is something that happens to old people—like anyone over 30!  When you’re grown up, death is something that happens to other people—those who don’t take care of their health, or work in dangerous professions.  Even late in life, some will do anything they can to deny the march of years—they get cosmetic surgery, they dress like they did thirty years ago, they blow money on expensive toys, they even consider having a fling with someone much younger, all in an effort to ignore the approach of death.  But you can’t just ignore death and hope it will never find you.

Most people don’t prepare for death.  Do you have a last will and testament?  Have you made out advanced medical directives?  Do you have enough life insurance to pay off your mortgage, car loans, credit card debt, and still have money left over to pay for your funeral and put your kids through college?  Does your spouse know how to manage all of the household expenses?  If you were to die suddenly, who would care for your children, do the laundry, cook the meals? 

If you died today, are you ready?  Are there any friends you’ve lost contact with over some petty disagreement?  When is the last time you said “I love you” to the special people in your life?  Most important of all, is your soul ready to leave this world?  Do you believe that Jesus is God’s Son cast in human flesh?  Do you believe that He died for your sins and rose from the dead?  Have you told Jesus that you’re sorry for all your sins, even those favorite ones that you just can’t give up?  Are you confident that when you die, you will go to heaven? 

Some lives are long, others are cut short.  But regardless of how many years you have on this earth, there are three days of crucial importance for everyone.  The first is the day when God the Father gave you life, the day when you were conceived.  The second is the day when the Holy Spirit gave you faith in Jesus, the day that you were reborn as a spiritual child of God.  The third is the day when Jesus calls you to stand before Him in judgment, the day which determines eternal happiness or eternal misery.  Everyone is conceived by the power of God the Father.  Everyone will stand before His Son for judgment.  But only some are spiritually reborn.  They are the blessed ones.  On the day of death, they will be welcomed into heaven as citizens, their passports stamped in Jesus’ blood that washed away their sins.  But the Day of Judgment will be a day of terror and despair for those who ended life dead in their transgressions and sins.  Without faith in Jesus, there is no forgiveness; without forgiveness, there is no escape from the jaws of hell. 

Are you ready for death to claim you?  Are you ready to stand before Jesus and hear His verdict on your life?  Many Christians are not ready.  They are like the foolish virgins in today’s Gospel lesson.  They have a date with Jesus.  They know that He will come for them.  They are looking forward to that meeting.  But time is against them.  They aren’t prepared for a long vigil, keeping watch. 

It’s hard to keep watch.  The hardest job a soldier can have is sentry duty.  When you go on patrol, you keep moving.  When you’re on a special mission, there are timetables for each objective to be completed.  But keeping watch is different.  The sentry is called upon to stay sharp for hour after hour, listening for anything out of place, or watching for a hint of movement that might suggest the approach of hostile forces.  But hours of quiet darkness can wear down alertness; minds can wander, giving an enemy the opening to approach undetected.

It’s hard to stay alert and keep watch.  Even Christians can be caught napping by sudden death.  It’s easy to get lazy about your faith.  Life is busy right now, too busy for daily prayer or weekly church attendance—but that’s okay, when things finally settle down you’ll give more time to Jesus.  But let’s face facts—regardless of how busy you are, you always make time for the things that matter most.  The only reason you don’t find time now to pray or worship is because they are not a high priority for you. 

Don’t kid yourself—once you leave time for God out of your routine, it is easy to forget about Him entirely.  You know how it is.  A good friend moves away.  You promise to stay in touch.  But as the months go by, regular contact becomes less and less frequent; in some cases, such friendships die altogether.  You didn’t intend for it to happen—you just got busy with other things.  At least you exchange cards at Christmas…

This can happen to us.  We can let other things shove God out of our schedule, until the only time we think of Him is at Christmas—if then.  Jesus knows that we are easily distracted.  That’s why He urges us to Keep watch.  That’s why He doesn’t tell us the day or the hour when everything will come to an end.  He wants us to stay sharp.  He wants us to be prepared to meet Him.  He wants us to be strong in the faith, studying the Scriptures and teaching them to our children while we are here to do so.  He wants us to gather in worship, where we can receive the blessings of His Word and Sacrament, and where we can jab each other in the ribs in order to stay alert.  He wants us to confess our sins regularly so we can be blessed with the peace of sins forgiven, and live with confidence that death will give birth to eternal life. 

Are you ready for your death?  In some respects, I hope you never are.  I hope that your life never becomes so filled with suffering that you just want to be done with everything, because God the Father did not give you life only to be miserable.  I hope that you never view death as a friend, because death is God’s curse on sin, a curse that Jesus died and rose to overcome.  But do I hope that you are ready for death because the Holy Spirit has given your soul rebirth through faith, faith that will allow you to die unafraid of what comes after, because the forgiven are saints who will live with God forever.