Title: Life of Preparation./Matthew 25:1-13
The God we believe in is a God who thoroughly prepares for us. Where do we come from and where do we go in Buddhism? We learn the way to answer that question by asking questions, but the words of the Bible know the clear way we are going and live our lives. God has also prepared heaven for us for eternal life.
Adam and Eve committed the sin of disobedience by eating the forbidden fruit, and they were expelled from the Garden of Eden. I found shame. When the water is drained from the grass, the clothes are rolled up and lifted up. So God prepared leather garments for Adam and Eve and put them on.
When the Israelites left Egypt, they crossed the Jordan River and camped at Gilgal. There, the rite of mass circumcision is held. Circumcision is a ceremony that symbolizes God's people, but circumcision was not practiced for forty years in the wilderness. Before they conquered the land of Canaan, they practiced circumcision. Before acquiring God's land as an inheritance, he performed circumcision, which is a sign of his promise with God. Before acquiring a new land, it was necessary to prepare to confirm the promise with God first.
We are ahead of a new millennium. How should we prepare for this new millennium? The whole world is in the midst of preparing for the millennium. The prediction is that the beginning of the millennium begins with a party. It is estimated that 3.3 billion dollars of champagne will be used for parties worldwide, and about 4 trillion won will be used to pop the champagne.
So, how should we prepare for this new millennium? I have translated and published a book called Millennium Preaching, and there are two words that come to mind when I think of the new millennium: "fear and hope." How will it change in the future? It is said to be a feeling of fear and hope that something good will happen in the new millennium.
However, the only way to solve the fear is to prepare. The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena has developed seismology because earthquakes occur frequently. No one knows when an earthquake will happen. But for those who are preparing for earthquakes, earthquakes are not so scary. No one knows how the future will change. Although the future is uncertain, it is not a time to fear for those who have prepared for the future. It is proof that if we are prepared, we can overcome our fears of the future to some extent.
So how do you prepare? That wisdom can be found in the parable of the ten virgins. Jews held wedding ceremonies at night. It is similar to the way in which the friends of the bride guide the male friends with the groom carrying a hammer in our country's custom. Prepare a lantern and when the groom's friends come, the bride's friends light the lamp and lead the groom and friends to the wedding ceremony. Brides who fail to light the fire are unfortunately unable to participate in the wedding feast. This parable reveals an important point about preparation.
You have to be prepared to prepare. In order to keep the light from going out continuously, the oil must be continuously supplied. A fire without oil is to be extinguished. The five foolish virgins had lamps, but they did not have any oil and the fire went out. Be sure to prepare oil.
The five foolish virgins who prepared only their lamps were left with nothing but formalities. They are those who have lost their heart's passion for the Lord and are left with only formal faith. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees. They are good at religious events. I fast and read the law well. However, they remained at the formal stage. He said to them that they were like whitewashed tombs. It was rotten on the inside, but only the outside was painted with white ash to disguise it.
As we prepare for the new millennium, we must prepare what must be prepared. If only formal beliefs remain just because they have been religious for a long time, they are like five foolish virgins holding up their lamps without oil. We must prepare oil. The oil is religious passion. We must have the passion to love the Lord fervently.
The word millennium means thousand. Millennium got its name because Jesus came to this earth. Two thousand years have passed since Jesus came and a new millennium is now beginning, but I hope that the confession continues even now that the Lord is our eternal Savior and that our love for the Lord does not change.
We must not become a formal belief with only a back left. There must remain a burning oil of love for the Lord in me.
Before Jesus was arrested, there was a woman who loved the Lord passionately. The woman prepares an alabaster bowl for Jesus and pours it on Jesus' head. He showed the sincerity of breaking the alabaster because he had a burning heart to love the Lord.
Think of Jacob. Jacob was a man of passion. become rich and return home. Before meeting his brother Esau, he goes to Peniel alone to cry out to God and pray. There was Jacob's passionate heart and passion, "I will not go down unless you bless me." Until daybreak, Jacob wrestles with God. I limp even though my thigh joint is out of alignment, telling me that I won't go down unless you bless me. When he ran away from his older brother, he searched for God passionately even when he was in dire need, but even when he returned after being rejected, his passionate faith in the Lord did not change at all.
When we have a hard time, when it is difficult, or when a problem needs to be solved, we pray earnestly with a fervent heart, but when all problems are solved, we are full and our back is warm, how often do we lose our fervor and only form remains?
At this time of waiting for the new millennium, we must prepare the oil. You must prepare a burning passion for the Lord and a earnest heart for the Lord.
When you prepare, you must be prepared. If you wait for the bridegroom to come later and miss the time to prepare, you will fail. When the news of the bridegroom's arrival was heard, the five foolish virgins wasted all the oil. I rushed to get ready and came back, but the door was already closed. If you do not prepare at the time of preparation, you cannot enter the wedding feast. If a student taking an exam prepares diligently before taking the exam and then goes to the exam hall, what is the use of preparing after the exam? When you prepare, you need a life of preparing
So when is the time to prepare? What is clear is that if you do not prepare later, you will be late. Now is the time to restore our passionate love for God. A person who procrastinates by not preparing the oil later continues to "later later" and loses the opportunity. An appointment that has been postponed once is strangely delayed over and over again.
Starting tomorrow, an intensive 40-day early morning prayer meeting for the new millennium will be held at our church. As the new millennium begins, this is a great opportunity for us to restore our love for the Lord. Let's not be foolish virgins who have all the oil and all the flames gone, and only the shells left. As the new millennium begins, I hope that our hearts will be filled with passionate love for the Lord. Let's prepare the oil when given the opportunity. Oil is a burning passion for the Lord.