^“For the Lord Himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord for ever.”  Sounds like the text from a popular novel series.  More exactly, it resembles something written by a right wing fundamentalist.  Yet, these are the words from St. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians.

As Episcopalians we say shortened versions of this in our last lines of our Memorial Acclamations in the Eucharist Prayers from the Book of Common Prayer. From the Eucharistic Prayer A, we proclaim: “Christ will come again”. In the Eucharistic Prayer B, we say: “We await his coming in glory.” While Eucharistic Prayer C gives more of a summary, it remains quite specific on Christ’s return with these words: “as we await the day of his coming.”  So much for trying to blame the teachings on the Rapture as just an evangelical hoax to scare folks into becoming Christians; we Episcopalians joyfully proclaim this doctrine in one form or another every time we receive Communion.

So the question is really not whether we believe in Christ’s return, but rather are we ready? In Jesus’ parable concerning the ten bridesmaids, all ten of them were properly dressed and outwardly ready to meet the bridegroom. However, only five of them were wise enough to bring a sufficient supply of oil for their lamps. Jesus describes these bridesmaids as wise. As for the five who came unprepared for such a long wait, Jesus states that these five were foolish.

The ten bridesmaids represent the members of the Church. Sadly, Jesus is telling us that only half of the members of the Church will actually be ready to welcome Christ when He returns to earth. This is a rather sobering message. Matthew writes, “As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut.”

Unpacking this parable, we see that all of the bridesmaids fell asleep. Today the Church has become known as the sleeping giant. While there remain some who are still anticipating the Lord’s return, most of us do not live our lives as though we truly believed Christ could return at any moment.  Instead, the Church of today when planning an ecumenical service cannot even include the Lord’s Supper, because of the various interpretations of its meaning and also how to even do it. This is truly heart-breaking in that the Body of Believers cannot even come to agreement on breaking the Bread of Heaven together.

We have come a long way from the First Church of Jerusalem. Luke writes in the Book of Acts, chapter two, verse forty-two: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” In the beginning, the Church was one minded on all things. They were not only of one mind, but they loved one another so much that they even sold all of their possessions and lived together as one community.

The scripture reads, “Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

If Jesus had returned at that time, He would have found a united Church who loved one another and who awaited in great expectation for His return. However, this was not to be. The Church was persecuted and scattered. The Apostles were sent into all of the world proclaiming the gospel. With this proclamation of the good news to many nations, came the first test of the cultural clash of the First Church of Jerusalem with the Hellenistic Gentiles of the Roman Empire.

The Jewish act of circumcision which separated the Jews from the Gentiles now stood to separate the early Church into two different Churches. This was the first test of unity in the midst of diversity for the Church. The Church in Jerusalem’s members was Jews who had converted to following the Way of Christ. Their leaders insisted that all believers both Jew and Gentile needed to be circumcised according to the tradition of Abraham’s covenant with God. St. Paul, who had been a Pharisee, a teacher of Jewish law, before his conversion to Christ, pleaded on behalf of leniency in this matter for Gentile converts.

After much prayer, the Jerusalem Council came to a decision on the matter. Because of this decision, Gentile converts were not required to adhere to the Jewish laws concerning circumcision. Luke writes in Acts, chapter twenty-one, verse twenty-five, “But as for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.’”  With this wise ruling, the early Church remained united as one Body.

Unable to learn from the wisdom of unity with diversity from our predecessors, today we seem adamant to continue the pattern of division and separation over various doctrines and beliefs. The one united Church has become a multitude of diverse traditions. Even the traditional Nicene Creed has become a subject for revision by some of the more progressive members of the Body of Christ. Given the lack of unity among the believers; it is not surprising that the Church of today has lost much of her power and respect in the secular global community.

Yet, there is hope for the Church. As we see in Jesus’ parable, not all is lost. Half of the bridesmaids remembered to bring extra oil with them. Oil is the symbol for the Holy Spirit. While all ten bridesmaids arrived with their lamps lit with oil, only half of them had the wisdom to bring extra oil with them. Too often we as Church members think that once we have been baptized and sealed with the Holy Spirit that there is nothing else we need to do. If this were so, then the scriptures would not teach us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. In order to not grieve the Holy Spirit and quench His power in our lives by living in sin, we are called to live a holy and blameless life. A life that is dedicated to fulfilling the will of God is the calling for all believers. St. Paul teaches us that are minds need to be continually renewed with the refreshing of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We need to be vigilant in pursuing living our lives as witnesses for Christ in this world.

Only when we choose to live in obedience to the Lord’s will, being always ready at any time, at any hour for His return, will we be like the five bridesmaids whose lamps were lit when the bridegroom came. May the Lord not find us negligent like the foolish bridesmaids whose lamps could not be relit at the bridegroom’s arrival. May we be ready for our Lord’s return and join with Him in great joy knowing that we have done our all for His sake.