Amos 5:18-24; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

It is difficult to be patient. When we are told to wait, be patient, we often end up complaining. Our culture and society have done nothing to counter this either. We live in a society that applauds instant gratification. If you know you want something, get it now! Yes, patience is difficult for us and I believe this is built into our human nature. Don’t believe me? Take a toddler on a long car ride and count how many times you hear, “Are we there yet?” I’m telling you, we are not patient people.

Yet, we know that “patience is a virtue.” As we grow up, we teach ourselves patience. We learn how to wait for something we want. We wait because we need to save up enough money for it, because we are not ready for it yet, because for whatever reason, it just isn’t the right time. Patience. It’s that voice in our head that tells us the wait is worth it. If we can wait and be patient, then the end will be better than the struggle of waiting. So, as we wait, we do whatever is necessary to wait out until the right time. For this is the other half of patience. Not only is it telling ourselves to just “wait” but it is being prepared for that wait. 

For this is what Jesus teaches in the Gospel reading for this Sunday. The groom has gone off and no one knows when he will return. The custom of the day was that the bride and friends would wait for the groom to prepare the house before he took the bride to live with him as his wife. When the groom came, there would be a lavish celebration in the town where the bridal party would meet the groom in a festive procession as he returned for his bride. But the trouble was, no one would ever know when the groom would return. Sometimes it would be a month, or even up to a year for the groom to return. So, the bridal party had to be patient.

In the same way, Jesus tells us to be patient. “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour,” Matthew 25:13. He has promised to return for his Bride, the holy Church. For he has departed to prepare a place for her. But on that day, when the Lord comes, there shall be a cry, a shout, “The Lord comes!” At the second coming of Jesus, he shall come to take us home to himself. He shall raise the dead and grant new life to all who believe… to all who have waited with patience! But until that time, Jesus tells us, “Be patient,” that is, make your necessary preparations that you can be ready for his return. For this too, Jesus has provided us. He has died on the cross as payment for our sins; He has given us the Holy Spirit who shall keep us in the one, true faith; and He has blessed us with his Word and Sacraments that we may be refilled in the faith until his coming. So, he tells us be patient. For truly, we know that as we wait, it will all be worth it in the end! Amen!

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

Lord God, heavenly Father, send forth Your Son to lead home His bride, the Church, that with all the company of the redeemed we may finally enter into His eternal wedding feast; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.