[AI translation] Advent is still on. It is the fourth Sunday that the Advent message is heard among us. But this is not the Advent of the Old Testament, which awaits the birth of the Saviour, the incarnation of the Word. Nor is it the Advent that precedes the meeting of a soul with Christ in our midst by His Holy Spirit, but the great Advent of the Church, in which the Church of Christ lives from the Ascension until His glorious return. This Advent is the waiting for the personal appearance and return of Christ, the waiting before the great arrival.In this Word it is said that the church has a waiting, a hope. And that hope is a great, triumphant, joyful encounter with the Lord himself! In this parable Jesus illustrates this encounter with the beautiful image of the bridegroom and bride meeting at the wedding. What this picture expresses is that the Church of Christ is on the threshold of something great. She is preparing for a celebration of joy which, of all the earthly metaphors, is captured by the wedding: the consummation of two hearts in love, two souls waiting for each other in the happiness of the wedding. Those who have only known and loved each other through correspondence will finally meet! The Church too, which until now has only known Christ through the "letters" written to her by the Holy Spirit, through the pages of the Bible, is waiting for the happy meeting. Now the Church walks by faith, not by sight. And in whom, though we have not seen, we believe - as the Apostle Peter says - we shall see him at the great meeting! Yes, that church which confesses that Jesus "came down from heaven to call and betroth Him, Redeeming by His precious blood him that believeth in redemption" - that church now lives in the expectation that "her vision shall one day be gloriously fulfilled, And she shall be united with the Lord of the triumphant church." (Canto 392, verses 1 and 4) This is the moment the Church is waiting for. This is the Advent in which we live! This is what the parable of the ten virgins is about.
But now all this is only an abstract truth. The big question is whether the actual church, the Church of Pasaréti, as we see it here in the church: are we ourselves really waiting for this moment, and are we waiting for it correctly? Those ten virgins in the parable represent the church, the betrothed, the members of the church. So those who already know the Bridegroom, know that he is coming back, because he has promised, and they are waiting for his arrival in one way or another. So the ten virgins represent those who profess to belong to the communion of the Church, who identify themselves with the Church, who assume its destiny and its hope. So the distinction between the wise and the foolish does not apply to those inside and those outside, but both are inside the Church! The great warning is precisely that it is here, within the church, that Jesus makes this distinction between the wise and the foolish. He calls those wise who have oil in their jars wise, as distinct from foolish who have no oil. And those who don't have it will miss the wedding at the crucial moment, which is precisely why the whole betrothal was, why the whole church was established in the first place, which gives purpose and meaning to the fact that one is part of the wedding party, that one is here in the church at this very moment! "I don't know you" (Mt 25,12) - the dreadful, irredeemable banishment will be sounded at them!
That is why the question is now of such great importance: what is the oil whose presence or absence has such a decisive influence on the participation in the wedding? In short, it is very easy to answer this, because the whole symbolism of Scripture is that oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. So, who Jesus will acknowledge as his own there, at that decisive meeting, depends on whether the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, is present in that person. Paul makes this very clear in Romans. (Rom 8,9) So then, he who does not have the Spirit of Christ is not really his, only in appearance, even if every other outward sign points to the fact. One can be there in the crowd of those who are waiting for Christ and not really be Christ's. He may have a Christian upbringing, have a Bible, and be a sacrificial member of the church outwardly. He may be getting ready for his wedding, he may already have his lantern in his hand - so he is not cynical, not an unbeliever, not a blasphemer, and he may even outwardly assume that he belongs to the people of God - and one day, unfortunately, it will be too late, it will turn out that he is not Christ's. Something is missing: he does not have the Spirit of Christ!
So the oil that is so essential is the Holy Spirit. But I would like to make this even more concrete now. Scripture says: "No one can call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Spirit." (1 Cor 12:3) He has oil in the reservoir whose Holy Spirit of God has made Jesus Christ Lord! Who has given his inner life, his heart, under the Lordship of Christ. He who knows that his sins have been forgiven for the merit of Christ's death, and for this grace he has given himself to his Lord with great inward gratitude. So I might say that the Spirit of Christ in me is as much as the Christ-spirit in me: Christ-like thinking, feeling, Christ-like motives, speech and action, resulting from living the reality of salvation. And here it is especially the latter that is very important: Christlike action, conduct. For we know, do we not, His warning: 'Not all who say these things to me are: Lord! Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." He continues, "Whosoever therefore shall hear these sayings of mine, and do them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock." (Mt 7,24) Wise: behold, the same word as in the parable, wise! And he that heareth these words, and doeth them not, is likened unto a foolish man. And in the parable he calls the virgins who do not provide oil fools. Behold, the comparison between the wise and the foolish virgins is clear: look at your actions, your daily life, the way you walk in the world, the way events affect you, the dreams in which images, desires, and emotions arise at night from the subconscious content of your soul: all are tell-tale signs of what your soul is full of. Examine your behaviour towards your anger, your enemy, your spouse, your child, your mother: is there oil, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, a Christian spirit in you?
In the parable, the question goes even deeper: it is not just about the oil in the lamp, because the five foolish virgins also had lamps, but about the oil in the lamp! Let no one be deceived, then, by the occasional flash of heavenly light: in a moment of devotion or in the rapture of a festive mood, the lamp of some good deed or word of his will is illuminated by a holy ray. The five foolish virgins had oil in their lamps, but there was no reserve! It was not their lantern, but their vessel that was empty! Their hearts were empty! That's why they didn't have enough to last! It was not enough to get going, to have a promising start, to get going. The Bridegroom is late, the night falls, darkness falls on the landscape, the shadows grow terrifying, the body grows weary, the lantern goes out. Will the reserve be enough? Will it last when it should shine the brightest: in the dark, in the night of suffering, in the night of death?
The day before yesterday, the postman brought two letters from two different places at the same time. The writer of both letters was equally struck by the darkness of his ordeal. Let me read an extract from each. It hurts me to suffer so innocently. I have already lost my faith. My whole life has been a great ordeal so far. And why?"- In practice, that's when there is no oil in the pot. And he had one in his lamp! But it ran out, that's why it's in darkness now! The other soul, also hunched over under a very heavy spiritual-physical burden, writes: "In my long life I have always found that everything God does is good, although sometimes it takes years, perhaps decades, to be convinced of this by action. We have an old hymn that says: "With joy and with emptiness you make me drink, testing my faith! So far I have received strength from above to endure the trials, and so I look forward with full calm and hopefulness to this short life on earth, and then to the joyful hereafter!" It is to these that Jesus says in the parable, "those who are ready will enter with him into the bridal chamber" (Mt 25,10) Yes, that oil also means that I am ready to meet the Bridegroom who is coming for me at any moment! I am ready! I'm not gasping, "Oh, what will happen now? As the Psalmist says, "My heart is ready, O God" (Psalm 57:8) - ready for anything, ready to accept whatever He gives. He is also ready to renounce all that he takes or does not give. Ready even to stand before Him in sudden death and see Him in His glory! "Those who are ready..." Fools are not ready. Are you ready? Have you enough oil in your jar - in your heart?
The Advent season in which we live is not only a time of waiting, but an occasion! And here is the joyful message of this otherwise awesome Word: advent is an opportunity to get oil. You can get oil! There is oil for you! But not from me or anyone else - we can't borrow from each other! Jesus warns us of this in the parable. The foolish virgins tried to borrow from the wise, but to no avail. You can borrow everything else: money, clothes, thoughts, but not readiness! No one can go to the Bridegroom with religiousness borrowed from his religious ancestors! Borrowed, strange light can only shine before deceivable people, not before Jesus! You must be ready yourself! And if you fail to do so, no one else can make up for it! Your son, your father, your spouse, they can't help you. That oil must be in your heart!
If thou shouldst now find that thou hast none, hear this call, "O all ye that thirst, come ye into these waters." (Is 55:1) The whole of Scripture is full of encouragement. Jesus also said, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; cry, and it shall be opened to you" (Mt 7,7) He also encouraged you to ask for the Holy Spirit, and it shall be given to you. Also in Revelation, Jesus, standing at the door and knocking, says: "Take from me gold tried by fire" (Rev 3,18) - All this means that you too will receive forgiveness of sins, a new heart, peace, joy, victory, pure life, salvation - oil, Holy Spirit, Spirit of Christ, Christian spirit! It just depends, do you need it?
Look, better to find out now that you have no oil than then! Because once the Lord has said, "I don't know you," it's no use trying to replace it! It is not I who say, but the Word of God, that he who comes too late finds a closed door. And then it is no longer valid to knock and it will be opened to you. So let us beware! This is the warning of this Advent. It's not the lack of oil that is the problem, but the missed opportunity to make up for it. Believe me: it is true, absolutely true, what an old hymn expresses:
"If thou wilt humble thy heart before the Lord,
He'll come to you and bless you.
Pride of the flesh is death! But if you repent of your sin,
His Holy Spirit will abound, And the heart will find salvation.
(Cant. 312, verse 3)
Amen
Date: 21 December 1952.
Lesson
Mt 25,1-13