“I should have done more.”

Matthew 25:1-13 "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. ⁶ "At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' ⁷ "Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' ⁹ "'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.' ¹⁰ "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. ¹¹ "Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' ¹² "But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' ¹³ "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

“I should have done more.” If you’ve been paying any attention to the news at all this week, you know about what is going on a Penn State University. “I should have done more” was the lament of Joe Paterno on his last day as Penn State’s legendary football coach. “I should have done more.” It is a refrain that has been repeated on SI.com, ESPN, newspaper headlines and web-based news stories.

I was watching ESPN late Wednesday evening when the story broke that Paterno was fired after 46 years of head coaching. The Penn State students gathered outside the Paterno home patiently waiting for the door to open and for someone to come out of the house to talk to them. But as the evening wore on, the growing number of students became increasingly frustrated and agitated. They were upset. They shouted. They protested. They wanted answers. Then with a mob mentality, they overturned a news van and smashed car windows.

All the events at Penn State this week reminded me of the scene that Jesus portrays in Matthew 25. The midnight gathering outside the Paterno home is reminiscent of the 10 virgins in Jesus’ parable. They gathered outside the wedding banquet for a midnight vigil, patiently waiting for the door to open and someone to invite them in. The five foolish virgins who missed the Bridegroom’s arrival because they were off getting more oil for their lamps, were left standing outside the wedding. They didn’t become violent, but they were begging for answers, confused, clueless – foolish.

It seems to me that Joe Paterno, the university president and everyone else who was caught up in this scandal were fired because they did the bare minimum. They were fired for being foolish – and dangerous in their foolishness. They are receiving the consequences for their inaction. It seems to me that we are dangerous in our foolishness. Our foolishness of just getting by, of only doing the bare minimum with our faith. What are the consequences for us for our inaction?

It appears that Joe Paterno knew something negative – horrific! – but did not examine more closely. People are justifiably upset because it looks like he did nothing with the information given to him. The Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, is justifiably upset if we do not more closely examine the information given to us. The differences – we have been given something positively wonderful – an invitation to the wedding feast of the Son of God! Let it never be said of us with this Gospel invitation, “I should have done more.”

Jesus gives us a parable about wise and foolish bridesmaids. They are all “virgins.” Not “good girls” and “bad girls.” Wise and foolish. This isn’t about morality, but faith. The Scriptures are full of teachings about wisdom and foolishness, but it boils down to this – to be wise is to be believing and trusting. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10). To be foolish is to be unbelieving. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1). The wise take extra oil for their lamps in case the Bridegroom is a long time in arriving. The foolish took their lamps but no extra oil.

The foolish look down right sophisticated with their cute little wedding lamps nestled in their perfectly manicured fingers. They are confident and carefree. They go about their lives as though the wedding were just another they thing on their to-do list. Go to the mall, get your hair done, go to a movie, go to the wedding.

In the parable, who are these five foolish bridesmaids? They are … you!

The oil in the lamps represents faith. These bridesmaids had faith at one time. They had received an invitation to the son’s wedding feast, but they became distracted, foolish, carefree. You, too, have received the invitation to the wedding feast of the Son of God. You have oil in your lamps. But what are you doing with that invitation? Is the oil in your lamp running out? Are you distracted, pre-occupied, busy, concerned about earthly things, but uncaring about eternal matters?

How often, when it comes to your faith-life, are you doing the bare minimum, just enough to get by? Do you come to church every week because God deserves your honor and praise? Or do you come to church just enough to keep the pastor and elders from calling you? Do you give the Lord the best of your time and your money in your worship and offerings because you are grateful for everything He’s given to you? Or do you show up for church and put in the offering plate only the hours and dollars you can spare?

Why don’t you come to Bible studies at church, bring your children to Sunday School, in addition to what they learn at WLS, and have personal and family devotions at home? Do you know enough to get into heaven? Is what you learned years ago in confirmation class enough to get you through the tough times of adulthood? Is there nothing new you can learn, nothing godly that will change your perspectives, nothing inspiring that will comfort and encourage you?

We are all guilty of doing just enough to get by: office managers, factory workers, school teachers, parents, students, coaches … even pastors. We do the bare minimum in our personal lives. How much more so with our spiritual lives? Let it never be said of us when we look back on our faith lives, “I should have done more.” Look at how well that’s playing out in the media at Penn State. Look at how well that will play out on Judgment Day.

All this isn’t just about giving to God what He needs for His glory and the spread of His Kingdom on earth, but it is about giving you what you need so you continue to have saving faith on the Last Day.

Now, it is important to realize that nobody wants to be foolish. The five foolish bridesmaids Jesus spoke of did not want to be excluded … and yet they were. Foolishness happens. It happens when our hearts and minds are captivated by the people and things of this world, and we end up becoming distracted looking to them to provide what we need. It happens when we put our trust in what cannot save and what will not last – earthly trinkets and baubles instead of God’s Word and Sacraments. It happens when we run after the cares and pleasures of this life and so our faith grows cold and goes out. And in the end, we find ourselves not only without what we were chasing, but also out in the dark and empty-handed. That’s what happened to the five foolish bridesmaids. They weren’t counting on the Bridegroom to delay, and that delay caused their lamps to grow cold and dark.

Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom has been a long time in arriving. It is hard to wait, remain prepared and always vigilant on these midnight hours of the End Times. You don’t expect to give up your faith and let your lamp burn out. It just happens. No one is expecting to go to hell. It just happens.

Understand that there is a difference between being foolish and appearing foolish.

The five wise bridesmaids appear foolish, if not unfashionable, to everybody else. They were all dressed up, hair and nails done, perfume on, carrying a Mason jar full of extra oil in their purse. Silly girls. Crazy, obsessed, fanatical girls. They were acting as if this wedding was the biggest thing in their lives – the only thing. They look as silly as Linus from the old Peanuts cartoon, sitting in the dirt, waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear in his pumpkin patch.

Yet this is how crazy, fanatical and foolish we Christians appear to the rest of the world. How foolish we look getting up early on a Sunday morning, getting our kids dressed nicely for church, setting our priorities around our worship schedule instead of our work and kids’ athletic schedules. How foolish we look lugging around the baggage of God’s Word and truth. How foolish to waste our time in prayer; how foolish to call little babies sinners and have them baptized; how foolish to think the Supper we eat is the Lord’s, with its little morsel of bread and sip of wine can really be and do anything. How foolish to spend your time in church and your money on offerings and Christian education, when surely, there are better things you could be doing with your time and money.

How foolish of the Church to be more focused on the coming of the New Creation than the present problems of the old creation. How unfashionable to speak of sin and sacrifice, atoning blood and forgiveness of sins when the world wants to be purpose-driven and successful. How silly of the Church to preach Christ crucified for the sins of the world, knowing full well that the world clamors for miracles, celebrity and entertainment. How old-fashioned to sing deep, theological hymns and use an ancient liturgy when every other church wants new and edgy.

We’re a ship of fools who come to church not be motivated, uplifted and entertained, but challenged, driven to our knees in repentance and to lift up our heads to hear the Savior’s melodious voice of forgiveness. We die in order to live. We esteem Christ instead of ourselves. We don’t ask God on this day to bless our Christian loved ones who have died in the Lord, but thank God for the blessing of these people on our lives. The rest of us live as saints in the Church Militant, the Church at war, but one day we, too, will become a part of the Saints Triumphant. We dare to come into the presence of God, not boasting about all the great things we’ve done for God lately, but admitting that we’re a bunch of screw-ups who can’t get anything right on our own, no matter how hard we try.

And the world simply shakes its head at us, like we are sitting in our pumpkin patch waiting for our Great Pumpkin, Jesus Christ, to appear. But in the end, when the midnight vigil is over, those who looked foolish turned out to be wise, while those who appeared so wise, wind up looking terribly foolish, running around in the middle of the night looking for oil that can’t be found. Finding a closed door to a party for which they had received an invitation. Hearing the terrible word of exclusion, “I don’t know you.” They were invited; they were a part of the wedding party; they had a place at the table. But in their foolish unbelief, they are no longer recognizable.

Fellow saints, don’t be foolish! Don’t do the bare minimum. Don’t do enough to just get by. For we have a Savior who did the maximum. A Savior who did everything to get us into His wedding feast. He did absolutely everything for our salvation – God becoming man, suffering for our shame and sin, the Lord of life dying our death, the Creator buried in the earth of His creation, ascending into heaven, not to rest, but to prepare His wedding feast to be for we who are His invited guests.

Joe Paterno has been the most important man in the state of Pennsylvania for decades. How will he be remembered? 5 unbeaten seasons?  2 national titles? 409 victories – a record for Division I football? In the end, this legendary coach is going to be remembered for this one statement that will now define his career, “I should have done more.” For all he’s done, it will be what he has left undone and failed to do that ultimately did him in.

What about you? In the end, at the end of the parable, at the end of your life, on the Day of Judgment, how will your life be defined? Don’t let it ever be said of you, “I should have done more.” For that will only result in the Bridegroom saying, “I don’t know you.” For you became foolish.

Rather, let the Bridegroom say of you, “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9)! For you were foolish to the world, but wise for Christ. Amen.

Saints Triumphant at Epiphany on November 13, 2011