The scripture for today comes from Matthew chapter 25.
Starting in verse 1, we read,
Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them.
But the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
But at midnight there was a cry.
Here is the bridegroom, come out to meet him.
Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
And the foolish said to the wise,
Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.
But the wise answered, saying,
Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.
And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came.
And those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.
Afterward, the other virgins came also, saying,
Lord, Lord, open to us.
But he answered,
Truly I say to you, I do not know you.
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.
To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability.
Then he went away.
He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them.
And he made five talents more.
So also, he who had two talents made two talents more.
But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.
Now after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying,
Master, you delivered to me five talents.
Here, I have five talents more.
His master said to him,
Well done, good and faithful servant.
You have been faithful over a little.
I will set you over much.
Enter into the joy of your master.
And he who had two talents came forward, saying,
Master, you delivered me two talents.
Here, I have two talents more.
His master said to him,
Well done, good and faithful servant.
You have been faithful over a little.
I will set you over much.
Enter into the joy of your master.
He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying,
Master, I know you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gather where you scattered no seed.
So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground.
Here, you have what is yours.
But his master answered him,
You wicked and slothful servant.
You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scatter no seed.
Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers.
And at my coming, I should have received what was my own with interest.
So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.
For to everyone who has will more be given.
And he will have an abundance.
But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness.
In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him,
then he will sit on his glorious throne.
Before him will be gathered all the nations.
And he will separate people from one another,
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
Then the kingdom will say to those on his right,
Come, you are blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry, and you gave me food.
I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.
I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.
I was naked, and you clothed me.
I was sick, and you visited me.
I was in prison, and you came to me.
Then the righteous will answer him, saying,
Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and gave you drink?
And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you,
or naked and clothe you?
And when did we see you sick, or in prison and visit you?
And the king will answer them,
Truly I say to you,
As you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers,
You did it to me.
Then he will say to those on his left,
Depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire,
Prepared for the devil and his angels.
Where I was hungry, and you gave me no food.
I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink.
I was a stranger, and you did not welcome me.
Naked, and you did not cloth me.
Sick and in prison, and you did not visit me.
Then they also will answer, saying,
Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty,
or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison,
and did not minister to you?
Then he will answer them, saying,
Truly I say to you,
As you did not do it to one of the least of these,
you did not do it to me.
And these will go away into internal punishment,
but the righteous into eternal life.
This is the word of God.
Great. Thanks so much, Annabelle, Risa.
That was great reading.
Good to have the alternation.
And yeah, we are racing through the book of Matthew,
chapter 25.
And today,
why don't we pray together,
as we listen to God's word.
Father, thank you for these words.
Thank you that we have the words of Jesus.
We pray that we would listen
to our King, our Savior, our Master.
Please speak to each one of us.
Would we hear what you want us to hear?
Whatever that may be.
Thank you that you are the living and speaking God.
So encourage us today,
in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, it's great not to have masks.
Although, looking back,
if there was one restriction
that you have to keep,
which one would it be?
I don't know.
And actually,
the one that I'm most grateful for
is quarantine gone, right?
Life is so different now.
I don't know how many of you
have been flying.
So many people,
they're now on business trips
and on holiday.
And so, of course,
you're flying
and you get the safety features, right?
The sewer that's showing
where's the exits
and here's the live vest.
How many of you listen to that?
I think no one, right?
Well, the reason is very simple.
We don't think it will happen, right?
And there's no way we're going to crash.
So why would I listen?
What if you really knew
the plane would crash?
I think you would listen, right?
Everyone would get a mobile phone
and video it
and kind of save it for later.
Now, if you really know
something's going to happen,
you would be ready.
We just don't think it will be.
And I think that's why
we want to listen
to what Jesus has been saying, right?
Something big is going to happen.
We heard that last week.
If you were here,
Jesus is going to return.
It's going to be
the end of the world,
the end of history.
Big change, right?
The new creation,
the final judgment,
as we heard.
And Jesus says,
we need to be ready.
And if you were there last week,
yeah,
that was challenging.
We want to be ready.
We want to hear,
right?
The disciples,
they were interested.
Okay, hey, Jesus,
when are you going to come back?
And what will be the sign?
And Jesus starts saying,
okay,
you need to be ready.
And today is basically
part two of that speech.
And so I hope we want to listen,
especially because I think it's,
I've been challenged
that it's not quite what I expected.
But right,
Jesus wants us to be ready
for his return.
I mean,
if you read the whole New Testament,
I think one out of every 10 verses
is about Jesus' return.
It's just a big topic.
Let's listen to what Jesus has to say.
And we have these three parables.
Obviously,
the last one isn't a parable.
Three stories.
And they help us,
well,
how to be ready.
So first,
yeah,
the virgins.
Now,
what is the story here,
right,
with the virgins?
Well,
then the kingdom,
verse one,
of heaven will be like 10 virgins
who took their lamps
and went to meet the bridegroom.
I don't know.
It's,
I guess these virgins
are like bridesmaids.
What happened back then?
Yeah,
that was the big feast,
but the bridegroom,
I think he would go
and get his bride
and then come back
and there would be
this big procession
into the feast
and these bridesmaids
would have lamps
to kind of light the way.
And so they,
they,
they were kind of waiting
for the bridegroom to come
so that they could kind of,
you know,
then have their lamps
and go in with him
to the feast
and be part of the procession.
I like bridesmaids.
That's what you should think.
The only thing is,
well,
of course,
they were wise and foolish
and some of them brought
this extra oil.
But they,
they trimmed their lamps,
right,
they were waiting
but the,
verse five,
as the bridegroom
was delayed,
they all became drowsy
and slept,
right?
They put their lamps
on the lowest setting,
just waiting outside
for the bridegroom.
And then suddenly,
well,
here at midnight
is the bridegroom,
right?
Here is the big moment.
And so they,
they all get up
and they,
they put their lamps
to the highest setting,
right?
Now,
here's the procession.
We're going to go in.
And the only thing is,
well,
you need extra oil then,
all right?
Because the lamps
have been burning all night.
And so the wise ones,
they have oil.
But the foolish ones,
we don't have oil.
And,
well,
what do we do?
Well,
go and buy some.
So five of the bridesmaids,
they go off to buy oil.
And while they're away,
the bridegroom comes.
The wise ones go in with him
and the door is shut.
That's kind of the story here,
right?
I guess we can follow it.
Here's the bridesmaids.
And some of them,
well,
we think it's about being ready,
right?
Although he actually,
when you read the story,
it was very surprising,
right?
I mean,
you expect this,
this comes after what Jesus
has been saying about his return.
And of course,
he is the bridegroom,
right?
He is the bridegroom
who comes back after a long delay
and we want to be ready,
right?
But,
you know,
he talked last week,
hey,
I'm coming like a thief in the night.
I'm going to come suddenly.
So you'd expect be awake.
And isn't that what this parable is about?
Well,
here are the 10 virgins
and,
you know,
five of them stayed awake
and five of them were asleep.
Well,
that's not the story.
How many of them were awake?
None of them.
They all fell asleep.
What made the difference?
How do you say it?
Right?
They had oil.
You had added oil.
That's the thing,
right?
Five of them were prepared
and five of them were not prepared.
It's not about how,
were they ready?
It's not about what were they doing
when the bridegroom came.
It is,
were they prepared?
And when do you prepare?
Well,
you do that beforehand.
You do that now,
right?
The difference between the wise
and the foolish,
actually,
there was a long time
before the bridegroom came
that they were ready.
And actually,
that is really surprising to me,
right?
It's not what you expect.
We always talk about,
okay,
Jesus is going to come back.
You need to be ready then.
This story actually says,
well,
you need to be ready now.
You need to be prepared now.
And actually,
it's exactly the same
with the other two stories,
isn't it?
Because here's the master
and he,
and the servants,
and then he calls them to account.
Does it talk about
what the,
what the servants were doing
when the master came?
No.
I mean,
that was last week.
There was a parable about that,
yeah.
But here,
it is about
what have they been doing
while he was away?
And likewise,
yeah,
the final judgment,
it's not what people were doing
when the son of man came.
It's what were they doing
while he was away?
And so that is,
I think,
the biggest surprise here,
right?
It is prepare for Jesus' return.
Being ready is about now.
And I think that,
yeah,
it's,
yes,
there is an element
what we looked at last week,
right?
Make sure you're not
kind of away from Jesus.
You're not,
you know,
completely away from Jesus
when he comes
because that'll be a shock.
But actually,
getting ready
is part,
it's a lot of it
is about now.
What do we do now?
How we live now,
at work,
at church,
in our family,
now?
That is how Jesus says
we're going to be ready.
It's about what we're doing
while he is away.
And I think that's really,
in a way,
encouraging,
right?
I don't know,
some places in Asia,
especially like Korea,
they have this,
at the end of high school,
there's this really big exam,
right?
Everything hangs on this one exam
at the end of high school.
Which university do you go to?
Which career can you have?
It's all about this one exam.
And your whole time in school,
it doesn't matter,
right?
It doesn't really matter
what tests you did
or exams,
it doesn't matter.
It's just about this one final exam.
And in a way that,
you know,
your life is not very important,
it's just about this one exam.
What if,
the day before the exam,
your boyfriend breaks up with you
and you're completely distraught
and, you know,
this one exam goes wrong.
So much pressure on this one thing.
Well,
it's wonderful to hear
it's not like that with Jesus.
It's not about,
okay,
there's this one unknown day
in the future
and that's when you need to be ready.
That is the only thing that matters.
And that puts so much pressure
and that's why Christians want to know,
when is it going to happen?
Because so much pressure on this one day.
Actually,
Jesus says,
no,
it's about preparing.
It's about being ready now.
And it's encouraging,
right?
Your life now matters.
Your family now matters.
Your work now matters.
Church now matters.
Right?
That is what Jesus wants.
Actually,
we want to prepare for Jesus' return.
We want to be ready.
Well,
we do that now.
And that's where we're going to go.
Of course,
then,
okay,
what does it look like to prepare?
What does it look like to be ready?
We'll look at the foolish virgins later.
Well,
second story,
well,
it's about this story about the talents.
In a way,
the story is quite straightforward,
right?
There's a master.
Verse 14,
it will be like a man going on a journey
who called his servants
and entrusted to them his property.
To one,
he gave five talents,
to another two,
to another one,
to each according to his ability.
And then he went away.
And he,
this man goes away on a long journey
and he gives his property,
his money to his servants.
And they are supposed to go and invest it.
And that's what they do,
right?
Two of them,
they go and put their money to work.
They trade,
they make five more,
they make two more,
but one hides in the ground.
And then again,
after a long time,
he came back
and then he calls his servants to account.
What have you been doing
while I was away?
And the point is pretty simple,
right?
In a way,
use your talents.
That's what it says.
The only thing is,
you know,
yeah,
use your talents.
Don't bury them.
But what are these talents,
right?
Now,
I guess most of us,
we hear talents
and you think like,
Britain's got talents,
right?
And you,
you,
we use in English the word talent
for kind of artistic skills,
right?
Like piano
and violin
and ballet.
That is,
you know,
and you hear this parable
and,
you know,
if you can play the piano,
you need to use it.
You know,
go for the grade eight exam
and,
and those kind of things,
right?
This is the,
the Tiger Mom parable,
right?
Make it,
use your talents.
But of course,
that's modern English.
This was Greek
2000 years ago.
What does the word talent mean?
It doesn't mean skill.
A talent is a unit of weight.
It's about 30 kilos
and usually 30 kilos
of,
of silver.
So it's basically
a money unit.
So he's just giving money.
That's the story,
right?
It is the servant,
the master gives
his money to the servants,
go and invest it,
go trade with it.
It's money.
All right?
So what is it?
Well,
we don't really know.
He doesn't say.
I mean,
he says,
uh,
when we all know,
we just know it's different,
right?
One has five,
one has two,
one has one.
So in Luke,
there is the story
of the 10 minas.
That's where each servant
gets exactly the same.
I think that that's the gospel,
right?
We all have the same gospel
and we're supposed to use it.
This is,
I think,
something that's different
between us.
So,
you know,
it doesn't say what it is.
I think it's just,
you know,
use what you have,
you know,
use what you have.
Maybe you,
uh,
use your money for Jesus.
Use your time for Jesus.
Use your gifts.
Yeah,
of course,
if you can use your piano
for Jesus,
do it.
Great music team.
But,
you know,
uh,
use your opportunities
for Jesus,
right?
Use what you have
for Jesus.
I think that's
what it says,
right?
The master wants
the servants
to use his property
for him.
use,
yeah,
use it.
Use what you have.
And then what do we learn
from this parable?
I mean,
one thing that I hope
strikes you
is that the master
is really generous.
I mean,
30 kilos of silver,
that's a lot,
right?
your ESV footnote
tells you
is a monetary unit
worth about 20 years
wages for a laborer.
Okay?
So,
one of those things
is worth
two and a half million
Hong Kong dollars.
So,
this master,
he gives
12 million
to this guy
and five million
to this guy
and two and a half
million to this guy.
Go and invest it.
If you work in finance,
I don't know how much
you get to invest
from people,
but it's a lot of money,
right?
But then when
he comes back
and,
you know,
here's the servant
and,
hey,
your five talents
have made five more.
What does he say?
Well,
such a great response,
right?
Well done.
Good and faithful servant,
verse 21.
You have been faithful
over a little,
just 12 million,
a little.
I will set you over much.
Enter into the joy
of your master,
right?
I'm going to give you
a much greater responsibility
and enter into the joy
of your master.
Come celebrate with me.
Come to my party
and be with me,
right?
A great reward.
He's so generous
and he's so fair,
right?
Because here's one guy
and he's made five talents.
Well,
there's the other guy
with the two talents
and he's made two more.
And what does he get?
Well,
that's okay.
No,
no,
right?
Verse 23.
His master said to him,
well done,
good and faithful servant.
You have been faithful
over a little.
I will set you over much.
Enter into the joy
of your master.
Exactly the same response,
word for word,
right?
It's so fair.
It doesn't matter.
One had five talents,
the other had two talents.
Exactly the same response.
It's so nice,
right?
I mean,
use what you have.
Some people just have
more than others,
right?
There are some people
who are amazingly gifted
and others are not
and you just think,
well,
they,
Jesus is so pleased with them
and Kevin is so amazing
and,
you know,
and I'm,
you know,
that's how many of us feel.
No,
it's use what you have.
Maybe you don't have very much.
Maybe you have a young baby
and the only thing you can do
is change nappies
and you don't have much time
for anything else.
Jesus knows that
and he is not expecting you
to do,
right,
a lot.
He knows.
Maybe you have a medical condition
and you can't do very much.
No,
Jesus knows what you have.
He's given it to you.
Just use what you have,
right?
In a way,
that's encouraging.
Here's a master
who is generous
and fair,
right?
And maybe the person
who gets the most reward
is someone you don't expect.
A bit like that widow
who put in the two copper coins
compared to all the rich people
because she put in everything
and they put on just a little bit,
right?
And that's so encouraging.
Use what you have
and what an awesome privilege,
right?
I mean,
I don't know what your boss is like.
So many bosses in Hong Kong
are terrible.
He is the most wonderful master.
Not Kevin,
by the way,
but
but yeah,
use what you have,
so use it
and we'll come back
to the first servant later.
But of course,
use what you have,
well,
for what?
And that is the third story.
It's not even a parable,
right?
The final judgment
because he doesn't say
then it will be like,
it's not,
this is what it's like,
this is actually what it is.
This is the future.
This is Jesus' return.
And verse 31,
when the Son of Man
comes in his glory
and all the angels with him,
then he will sit
on his glorious throne.
Before him will be gathered
all the nations
and he will separate people
one from another
as a shepherd separates
the sheep from the goats.
Imagine the scene,
the Son of Man,
Jesus,
in glory,
on a throne,
all the angels with him.
There's not a single angel
out there suing something else
because,
you know,
this is the end of the world.
The universe has stopped.
There's nothing to do.
There's only one thing
happening right now
which is,
well,
the final judgment.
Here is Jesus.
He gathers all the nations,
all the billions of people
from across the world,
from across history,
before him.
But it's not about nations.
It's about individuals,
right?
He separates people.
You go there.
No protests.
No rebellions.
No complaints.
This is it.
This is Jesus coming back.
I mean,
I think I made too many jokes,
right?
In a way,
this is really solemn.
It's an awesome scene,
but this is what will happen.
This is the future
for all of us.
I know you want to get that right,
right?
But then,
it does seem a bit unusual
how Jesus judges here,
right?
Because you read it
and it sounds like
you need to be kind to the poor.
Because verse 34,
then the king will say
to those on his right,
come,
you who are blessed
by my father,
inherit the kingdom,
prepared for you
from the foundation
of the world.
For I was hungry
and you gave me food.
I was thirsty
and you gave me drink.
I was a stranger
and you welcomed me.
I was naked
and you clothed me.
I was sick
and you visited me.
I was in prison
and you came to me.
Right?
But we didn't see you.
Well,
when you did,
what you did
for the least of these?
It's what you did for me.
It sounds like,
yeah,
helping the poor,
which of course
we know is a good thing,
but you'd expect Jesus
to say,
okay,
you guys,
you cling to the cross
and you don't.
So,
that's the big difference,
right?
You believe in me
and you don't.
Well,
that's why we need
to think carefully
about this.
Well,
what does he mean?
Well,
first of all,
and it sounds almost
like they're earning it,
right?
Hey,
you've done good,
you've helped the poor
and you haven't done good.
Well,
first of all,
verse 34,
notice what he says.
Come,
you who are blessed
by my father.
Come and inherit
the kingdom.
I mean,
they are words of grace,
right?
You are blessed.
You inherit.
Inheriting,
you don't do anything
for that.
You just receive.
And of course,
you know,
what is Jesus going to do
after his speech?
He's going to go
to the cross.
Why would he go
to the cross
if we can earn it
by helping the poor?
But also,
actually even more,
look at the surprise
of the righteous.
They're kind of surprised,
right?
I mean,
if I was thinking
I was going to earn salvation
and Jesus says,
yes,
you're in,
I would go,
yes,
I've done enough,
right?
No one says that.
They're just surprised.
Oh,
we didn't know
we were helping you.
They were not doing
anything to get in
or something.
It was just what they were,
they were just normally
living like this.
And they were surprised
that Jesus actually,
you know,
saw that
and cared so much
about it.
That's the thing,
right?
And it's not like
the ones who didn't
that they,
well,
they tried,
but they didn't do it enough.
There's no standard.
It's very binary.
There's people who do,
people who don't.
It's really one
or the other.
And also,
it's not just generally
the poor,
right?
Because it's,
well,
verse 40,
look at what Jesus says.
And whatever you did
for the least
of these,
my brothers.
Yeah,
he says,
this is these,
my brothers.
This is about poor Christians.
Doesn't mean we don't need
to care about all the poor,
but the focus is here
on Christians.
And actually,
to make that,
so in a way,
it's,
you know,
it's serving God's people.
That's what he wants,
serve God's people.
And to understand it,
I think you,
you know,
we think of being a Christian
in modern Hong Kong,
where being a Christian
is easy.
Actually,
in most places in the world,
being a Christian,
you know,
you're in a small,
marginalized,
little community.
You know,
you're in a Muslim country
or something,
and the majority
is Muslim,
and they have all the power,
and the Christians
are just this,
this tiny group,
right?
And then they're marginalized,
and they're oppressed.
That is what it's like
in most places
to be a Christian.
To be a Christian
is to be,
in many countries,
poor and hungry
and in prison.
And you have
just two communities.
You have the,
you know,
the world,
and they reject
the Christian community,
and you have the Christians,
and they care for each other.
So in a way,
what this boils down to
is just
what Jesus is saying,
which side are you on?
Are you on
Jesus' side?
Then you're part
of the church,
and I guess
you embrace the church.
Or if,
are you not part of,
not on Jesus' side,
in which case
you probably
will reject the church
and,
you know,
oppress them.
That is basically
what lies behind it.
It's so different
from here,
because here,
you know,
you become a Christian,
the only thing
that changes,
well,
Sunday morning,
I can't go
and lie in bed,
I go to church,
right?
That's almost,
there's so little cost
to being a Christian.
In many places
in the world,
there's a huge cost,
and I think
that's what lies
behind it.
So,
yeah,
which side
do you belong to?
Because your attitude
to Christ
is seen in your attitude
to the church.
And Jesus said,
how do you know,
how can people see
that you belong to me?
Well,
if you love one another,
if you are part
of the church,
if you care
for each other,
that is almost,
that's the evidence
of being a Christian,
because,
you know,
as Christians,
we need it.
If life is hard,
as it is,
we need each other.
So,
you put these parables
together,
I hope you can see
what they say,
right?
These three things
together,
prepare for Jesus'
return by using
what you have
to serve God's people.
That is what
these three things,
I think,
together say.
This is what,
yeah,
how Jesus wants us
to live.
You want to be ready,
right?
What should we be doing
now?
How should we be living
our life?
What should we do
with our time
and money?
Well,
I want you to
serve each other,
to love one another,
to take care.
So,
not just showing up
on Sunday.
I mean,
it's great to be here.
I hope you get a
kick out of being here
that will last you
the whole week.
But other people,
they go to the football
field and they get a
kick out of that
last Sunday week.
You know,
we're here for each
other.
We're here for
community,
right?
And not just hanging
out with your CG,
but,
you know,
actually loving
and supporting
each other.
And what if it's
really harder
to be a Christian?
You know,
CG is great.
What if your CG
member is fired
from their job
because they're a
Christian and
then they can't
pay their rent
and they need to
move in with you
for three months?
Would you like that?
I guess then it's
suddenly,
okay,
do I really love
my CG members
or not,
right?
That is what
he's asking.
All right?
Even now,
people may not
get fired,
but people here
are going through
a tough time.
Let's take time
to sit with them,
right?
Listen patiently
to them
because they're
your brothers
and sisters
and Jesus
loves them
and he wants,
and so if he
loves them,
we want to love
them.
And using
what you have,
I mean,
for some of it
it's money.
I think the
challenge in Hong Kong
is often time,
right?
Are we willing
to give our time
to people?
Give our homes.
That's,
yeah.
Or how about
Christians going
through hard times
elsewhere?
Because the thing
is that the
social media
and stuff,
right,
we know what
the world is like
and we know
that there's
plenty of Christians
in Southeast Asia
or in India
and life is very
difficult for them
and,
you know,
some of those
Christians are,
you know,
they have to survive
on hardly anything
and we have so much
money compared to them.
Wouldn't it be
wonderful if we
can support
the church
in places
like Bangladesh
or something?
There's organizations
doing that,
like Stand Asia
or here in Hong Kong
or other ones.
It's wonderful
if we can be
a worldwide church,
right,
where we love
our brothers
and sisters.
And they're not
just people
out there.
They're our brothers
and sister
and Jesus died
for them,
Jesus loves them,
he's made us
part of the same
family.
You know,
can we try
and love them?
That's one thing
that Jesus would
love us to do.
Right?
If we are Christ,
we will love
his little ones.
That is what
genuine faith
looks like.
Because it does
matter,
right?
I've been focusing
on the positive,
but in these stories
and these parables,
that there is,
there are people
who just do not
live like this
and it doesn't
end well for them.
There is a strong
theme of judgment,
right?
I mean,
five foolish
virgins
shut out
from the wedding
feast.
They knock
on the door
and the guy
says,
I do not
know you.
Chilling words.
Although we need
to remember,
you know,
wise and foolish,
I mean,
there are moral
words in the Bible.
I mean,
it's not that
one was smart
and the other
was a bit forgetful.
You know,
the kind of people
they're always
prepared and
they always
have spare
masks and,
you know,
an umbrella
and sunglasses
and all that
stuff with them
and there's
people who
are just
forgetful.
Oh,
I forgot my
keys.
These are not
the forgetful
versions.
These are,
well,
foolish versions.
Right?
I mean,
if you want
to be a
bridesmaid,
if you want
to have a
lamp,
you need
oil to
just not
bring oil
in a way
you don't
care much
about the
groom,
right?
You don't
care much
about the
wedding if
you don't
bring oil.
In a
modern day,
if you're
a bridesmaid
and you
forget to
put on
your
bridesmaid's
dress,
I don't
think the
bride would
think well
of you,
right?
I mean,
this is a
more serious,
ultimately,
they just
don't care
about the
groom and
bride,
right?
And if
he says,
I do not
know you,
I mean,
knowing is
relational,
actually,
this is quite
a relational
breach here,
right?
If you treat
me like this.
Or look
at that
servant,
the servant
with one
talent.
I mean,
that was
two and a
half million
dollars that
he got to
invest.
And what
does he do?
He buries it
in the
ground and,
I don't know,
go and watch
Netflix or
whatever.
Again,
it's not that
the servant
really tried
his best,
and I'm
sorry,
I only made
half a
talent more.
I tried,
but you know,
the economy
isn't good.
It's nothing
like that,
right?
He just
buries it
in the
ground and
does nothing.
And no
wonder Jesus
says,
wicked and
slothful
servant.
Well,
again,
this is a
servant,
right?
The virgin
was waiting
for the
groom,
and this
servant
belongs to
the master,
except that,
well,
he did not
do what
Jesus asked.
He didn't
do his
job.
He just
took the
time and
the money
and the
gifts and
everything
Jesus gave
and didn't
do anything
with it.
Well,
Jesus,
yeah,
I mean,
what does
he care
about his
master?
His
wonderful,
generous
master,
and he
says,
oh,
I thought
you were
so harsh.
You don't
know me,
right?
Ultimately.
Or,
yeah,
the goats,
of course,
that's the
most severe.
Verse 41,
you know,
depart from
me,
you cursed
into the
eternal fire
prepared for
the devil
and his
angels.
You know,
the fire
wasn't for
them.
It was for
the devil,
but if
you choose
his side,
yeah,
that's where
you end
up.
And that's
a scary
word,
right?
The eternal
fire,
or verse
46,
these will
go away
into eternal
punishment,
but the
righteous into
eternal
life.
But again,
which side
were they on,
right?
I mean,
ultimately,
again,
we shouldn't
see this as
a standard.
These are not
people,
you know,
all of them,
and they really
tried their best.
They just
weren't good
enough.
That's not how
this thinks,
right?
It's very
binary.
And ultimately,
yeah,
it's coming
down,
do you know
Jesus,
right?
The virgins,
they rejected
the groom because
they didn't
prepare for
their wedding,
and the
servant rejected
the master
because he
just didn't
do anything
with the
talent.
And the
other people,
well,
they rejected
Jesus'
community that
Jesus loved
so much.
They didn't
know the
master.
They didn't
know how he
identified with
these little
ones,
right?
He's not a
king on a
throne.
But he,
you know,
he loves
these little
ones.
And if you
give a cup
of water to
one of these
little ones,
he's so
pleased and
you're blessed.
If you reject
one of these
little ones,
yeah,
he cares about
it.
If you reject
them,
you reject
him.
I know
these are
scary verses.
I mean,
if you're not
a Christian,
I hope you
take these
words seriously.
I mean,
it's more
about,
you know,
challenging
Christians than
you,
but it is
true,
right?
There is an
authority figure
here.
There's a
groom,
there's a
master,
there's a
king,
the son of
man.
And it's
his world,
it's his
party.
And,
yeah,
if you don't
know him and
you don't belong
to him,
then you won't
be at the
party.
that makes
you want to
come back.
He is good,
he's generous,
he's kind,
I hope you
see that
through it.
He will
love to have
you back,
he would
love to
forgive you,
he would love
to welcome
you at the
wedding,
at the
party,
to enter
into his
joy together.
So do
do that.
I hope
for us
Christians,
if we
see Jesus
here,
I hope we
want to be
ready,
right?
And not
out of
fear,
but because
we want to
be with
him at
the
wedding.
It's a
privilege to
be his
bridesmaid.
It's a
privilege to
be his
servant and
be entrusted
with millions
and using
that for
him,
using that
to love
his people
of which
we are
one.
I hope
it's just
a natural
response to
this,
right?
Again,
this is not
a standard
we need
to reach.
It's just
a natural
response if
you know
Jesus.
And if
you're not
sure,
if you
wonder if
this is
you,
please just
take another
look at
Jesus,
right?
Again,
if we're not
living like
this,
if you
wonder,
am I
really doing
anything with
my life for
Jesus?
Am I
really,
you know,
come back to
him,
come back to
the son of
man.
You know,
see his
generosity,
see his
kindness,
and see
the gospel
as,
you know,
chapter 26,
right?
The same
son of
man.
I just
think it's
so,
you know,
you wonder
what it
means,
the son of
man.
But here in
chapter 25,
right?
The son of
man on his
glorious throne.
But we go to
chapter 26.
when Jesus
had finished
all these
sayings,
he said to
his disciples,
you know
that after
two days
the Passover
is coming
and the
son of
man will
be delivered
up to
be crucified.
And the
son of
man who
will judge
all the
nations,
he went
to the
cross for
you.
And the
same
son of
man who
will give
eternal
punishment,
he went
and took
eternal
punishment
to save
you.
If that
doesn't
show love
and generosity
and kindness
and melt
our hearts,
then we
just haven't
understood
him.
So come
back to
your king
and savior,
right?
And know
him and
then we
want to
be ready,
we want
to be at
the feast,
we want
to prepare
to meet
him,
we want
to use
what we
have to
serve
him.
So let
that change
our life.
Why don't
we pray
together?
Lord Jesus,
we are
in awe
of your
majesty
and glory,
your
authority,
but also
your love
and grace
and kindness.
If we,
yeah,
we want
to see
you more
as who
you are.
Thank you
that you
tell us
about yourself
and we
can know
you.
Would we
respond
naturally?
Would we
respond with
love?
Would we
respond with
faith?
Would we
respond with
service,
with being
ready to
meet you
because we
see your
grace?
We pray
for each
one of
us here.
Those of
us who
don't know
you yet,
would we
see you
and come
to you?
Those of
us who
maybe
have been
going to
church,
but we've
never really
thought about
what it means
to know you
and never
really thought
what it means
for our
lives.
Yeah,
would we
maybe take
that step?
Not out
of fear,
not out
of standards
that we
need to
meet,
but as
a response
to who
you are
and would
it change
our life.
Lord,
help us
to talk
about these
things,
help us
to love
each other,
help us
to encourage
each other,
help us
to serve
each other
as you
want us
to do
here,
that as
a church
we would
keep going,
as a church
we would
serve and
love and
all be
ready on
that day.
In Jesus'
name,
Amen.