The Last

The Last

Last Sunday of the Church Year – November 23, 2025

Isaiah 65:17-25; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:1-13

Seminarian Nicholas Totenhagen

Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

            “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?” For what do you wait? Are you even waiting for anything? I pray that you are all waiting for what is described in our readings for today: the new heavens and the new earth and our return to Zion – the kingdom of heaven. God has not revealed much to us about what our eternal life with Him will be like, but we do get a glimpse of its joys. Consider the poetic imagery from the prophet Isaiah, as he describes the creation of new heavens and a new earth. In this new creation, there will be gladness and joy. There will no longer be the sound of weeping or cries of distress. Death and injustice will be no more. You will enjoy the fruits of your own labor. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together. None shall hurt or destroy in God’s holy mountain. All things will be perfect, peaceful, just, and right. We really ought to meditate on such joys of eternal life more often, and they should be the thing which we wait for, which we expect and look forward to.

But on this last day of the church year before the beginning of Advent, the season which focuses on the coming of our Lord Jesus, there is another immensely important thing that we should remember and contemplate: before the new heavens and the new earth comes judgment. The time of judgment will be swift, and it will be without warning. So now, hear this warning of your Lord: “Watch.” Dear Christian, you must be prepared, lest, like a thief in the night, the bridegroom comes and you are put out into the outer darkness for lack of faith.

GOD HAS DESTINED YOU TO OBTAIN SALVATION THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, THEREFORE, STAY AWAKE.

Towards this end, consider with me just two things:

I.                    How we fall asleep.

II.                 How we stay awake.

I.                    How we fall asleep.

First, there is one thing that must be made clear: these passages are not about those who are clearly unbelievers, this is about you – about believers. Paul is addressing the brethren in Thessalonica, and Jesus is speaking about those who are expecting a bridegroom to come. Those who reject Christ are already fast asleep in darkness; they are already shut out of the wedding feast. Listen to how St. Paul talks about such people. They say, “There is peace and security.” They sleep; they are drunk. They are waiting for nothing, because their eyes are only set on this life. To them, this life is all there is and so they aim to live their lives to the fullest, driven by covetousness and lust, chasing after vanity. They do so because they are living according to their unbelief. Christians on the other hand, are supposed to be living according to their belief. After all, Paul says that you are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief. You are children of light, and of the day! You are to be awake and sober. Yet we know that this is not always true, otherwise Paul wouldn’t have needed to write this letter, and Jesus wouldn’t have needed to teach about His final judgment! Such warnings and admonitions need to be said for two reasons.

The first reason is because the church on earth is not only made up of true believers, but of true believers and hypocrites – wheat and tares. Jesus permits it to be so for a time, lest the true believers also be rooted up with the hypocrites. Such people declare themselves to be Christian and are part of a church, and yet their heart is far from God. They have been lulled into a dark, drunken slumber by the enticements of the world and the deception of the devil. They have been tricked into thinking there is peace and security with their soul, when in reality they have become blind, worldly, carnal people, merely offering lip-service to God. Perhaps the saddest thing about such hypocrites is that they often do not even realize that they are the virgins who did not bring enough oil for their lamp. They have the title or confession of ‘Christian,’ and yet they brought no fuel for their lamp – they have no faith to fuel the fire. Therefore, they merely appear to be ready for the bridegroom’s arrival. And so because of their sleeping, they perish outside when the bridegroom comes to his marriage feast.

The second reason you need such warnings and admonitions, dear Christian, is because the devil, the world, and your flesh desperately want to make you into that hypocrite. These things crave for you to fall asleep. So, how do they do it? Just as the devil is the master of a thousand arts, so too are there infinite ways for you to fall asleep and lose the fuel of your faith – too many to get into today, and so we must be content with naming only a few. Perhaps the greatest way that the devil and your sin attack you is to give you a sense of fleshly security. By this I mean, they trick you into thinking that certain sins of yours are not really sins, and that you have no need to repent and turn from them. You know what God says, but the devil asks, “Did God really say?” and your flesh says, “Do I really care?” Dear friends, such an attitude of apathy is damning. Do not cling to your sin but repent and sin no more. Confess your sin and earnestly desire to do better.

The temptations of the world, on the other hand, are by definition mundane. They are plain, simple, rather unimpressive, and short when it is all said and done. The words of the introit are worth recalling here: “O Lord, make me to know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you.” Your days on this earth are incredibly short, and yet too often you spend so much time toiling and toiling for rewards which are even shorter. You strive after trophies which gather dust, fame which is quickly forgotten, money which is rapidly spent and wasted, and much more. Even if you succeed where many fail and are able to keep and enjoy all these things in this life, death will still tear it all away from you. This is how the devil uses the world as a snare for your soul. If you spend all your time pursuing empty leisure, drunkenness, wealth, and fame while neglecting your soul, do not be deceived – your oil will be insufficient on that sudden and terrible day. You will frantically look for a way to get more oil, but you will find none, because it is already too late. During your lifetime you spurned and wasted the gifts which God gave you in the church. Then you will hear those horrible words: “I do not know you.”

II.                 How we stay awake.

You have heard what it means to be asleep and ways that the devil wants to make you asleep, so what can you do to stay awake and be welcomed into Jesus’ wedding feast? We will now take up this question. The answer is quite simple, and St. Paul gives it to us. He writes, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep [by which Paul means alive or dead] we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

First and foremost, recognize and believe that it is God who has called you to His wedding feast for the sake of His Son Jesus Christ. As Isaiah writes, “Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.” Our salvation is of Jesus Christ who died for us, it is not of ourselves, and He Himself sustains us in this faith. He has sealed you in the waters of Holy Baptism and Has made you His own. He has fed you with His Holy Word, which is given for your teaching, rebuke, correction, training in righteousness, and consolation. And furthermore, He regularly strengthens and confirms your faith with the Lord’s Supper, wherein He gives you His very body and blood. Furthermore, He has even given you each other. He has given you the body of Christ, your fellow Christians, in order to encourage and build one another up with your words and good works.

It is here in the church that God gives the lamps and the oil – that is, faith – and sustains it, keeping you prepared for His arrival. Know this, Jesus wants you to be at His wedding feast. This is why He has given you such things as the church, the Holy Ministry, His Word, His sacraments, your brothers and sisters in Christ. All of these things are gifts for you, so that you would not fall asleep, but so you would stay awake and walk in the light. Therefore, cling to His Word, read and meditate on it often, and regularly come here to receive more and more of God’s Word and sacraments. Do these things not just with your lips and your presence in the pews, but faithfully with your hearts. Let this faith form and shape your entire life, so that you do not spend it pursuing selfish vanity, but that you do all for the glory of God and the benefit of your neighbor.

            “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you. Deliver me from my transgressions.” Wait on the Lord, hope in Him, for He has truly delivered you from all your transgressions. Remain in this faith, feed your lamps, and trust that Jesus will bring you into the heavenly marriage feast which has no end.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ until the day of His coming.