PREPARING FOR NOTHING

Sermon Notes, July 5, 2015

Rev. Dick Guizar

            Rev. Guizar’s sermon was titled “Preparing For Nothing,” and the scripture was Matthew 25:1-13, the parable of the ten virgins waiting to meet the bridegroom; five had extra oil for their lamps and five didn’t.  There are many stories of being prepared: the Grasshopper and the Ants as depicted by Disney, with the grasshopper singing “The World Owes Me a Living” all summer, then changing his tune to “I Owe the World” in the winter.  Or the TV show about two families in Alaska’s extreme cold: one family gets all the wood, food, etc., they’ll need for the winter, and the other doesn’t.  All ten virgins were prepared for something: they all had oil in their lamps; they all fell asleep while waiting for the bridegroom.  But only five were prepared for nothing: they had extra oil in case the bridegroom took longer to come than they thought he would.
            For the last two thousand years, Christians waiting for Jesus’ return have asked, “How long, Lord?”  The Thessalonian church prepared for his coming: when he didn’t, they were confused.  Paul wrote to them, giving them reassurance and comfort, telling them how to live as they waited.  We look at the moral decay of our country, at the killing of Christians by radicals, and we ask “How long, Lord?”  The world is setting up for Christ’s second coming.  Our end-time lamps are burning out.  Mankind is going back to the old ways, seeking immediate pleasure and power (2 Peter 3:3-4), as they did in the days of Noah. (Matthew 24:37)  The Bible tells us how to live while we’re waiting.
            Tombstones have the date of birth and the date of death, but what’s between those dates is not recorded.  Some people are living in the past, the “good old days.”  Some are living in the future, “things will be better when. . .”  The past is where our foundation is built: we’re products of where we’ve come from.  But we live between NOW and NOT YET.  Hope keeps us alive.  Are we trusting in our Lord even if we don’t feel His presence?  We know He’s coming back; we see the signs.  We just don’t know when.  So we need to live as He taught us, keeping watch.  To be ready for something, be prepared for nothing.