I think most of you are very aware know by now that I’m a great fan of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. I’ve read it 3 or 4 times in all (it is a long read – but well worth it), but it was the release of the films that really brought it to life for lots of people who’d never been anywhere near the book.

(I think I might have checked this before, but how many are familiar with the story?) Well although a great proportion of the story is focused on two hobbit characters - Frodo and Sam and their mission to ensure the destruction of the ring of power - there’s a sub plot to the whole epic: a continuing story that runs underneath. And it’s the story of Aragorn. Over the course of the three movies we come to realise that Aragorn is the heir to the throne of a kingdom and the victory that is won by Frodo with the destruction of the Ring will not be fully realized until Aragorn is duly crowned king.

In the same way, while it’s absolutely right to focus on Jesus’ redeeming work of salvation on the cross there is, nevertheless, another plot that underlies what the Bible discloses about God’s ultimate plan for humanity – and I’ve said before it’s not sitting in heaven playing harps! The victory that is won by Jesus with the destruction of the power of death has its ultimate realization when Jesus, the Messiah is King over all.

Now you may be wondering about the relevance of this as we’re in our Season of Remembrance where we look back - because we’ve lost precious friends which makes it all the more poignant – and we’re also getting near to our Advent season – but this is a time when we’re encouraged to have both a short and long-term perspective.  Next Sunday we remember all those who’ve given their lives in the service of their country, we look forward to the immediacy of Christmas, but we’re also encouraged to see all this in terms of the longer view where we look forward to the return of the Jesus as the King. 

There are just three I want us think about this morning that are there for our encouragement:

1. That the Return of the King and the establishment of his kingdom is going to happen
There’s a certainty about all this, and a solid basis for our hop - and in a world of huge uncertainty and fear this is good news we need to hear.

 One particular aspect of the story Jesus tells has its roots deep in the Jewish context and has given rise to a tradition of hymn-writing about the coming of the bridegroom. Remember the previous parable we looked at a couple of weeks ago about a king putting on a marriage feast for his son? Well this further mention of a bridegroom hints again at the nature of Jesus’ messiah-ship – which of course has been the central issue and bone of contention ever since he arrived in Jerusalem. One of the amazing things about the parables is their ability to look forward to the end of time; to provide teaching for the church to come (that’s us!); as well as challenging those he was actually speaking to at the time. Jesus’ teaching is both immediate and for all time. (So all this is going to happen, we can be sure)

2. The kingdom has to do with love, but also with justice

(I love those words of today’s collect about bringing “the families of the nations, divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin, to be subject to his gentle and just rule”)

What we get here is an insight into what will happen when the king returns, or is fully present. It may not be politically correct to talk about judgement – in a society that lays great store by toleration and not ruffling feathers – where anything goes, so long as no-one gets offended - but it is undoubtedly scripturally correct to have some idea about this. The clear message here is that with the arrival of the King there is always a big ‘sorting out’. We know from elsewhere in the Bible that God has given the job of judgement to Jesus (& thank the Lord for that, because he’s gentle as well as fair). John 5:22 says ’the Father judges no-one but has given all judgment to the Son.’ (So we can happily avoid that one and leave it in much more capable hands). We also have this judgement illustrated as we see Jesus separating people as a shepherd separates sheep and goats.
            As for these girls in the story – the bridesmaids all looked the same, but they weren’t. Only half of them were “ready” when the bridegroom came.

In the middle east to this day, there are all sorts of traditional customs for what is after all one of the most important transitional moments in human life, where two people leave the security of their respective families and publicly declare they are going to begin to live as a new, different family. For a start people in the modern west don’t normally get married in the middle of the night (in law a church wedding has to be completed by 5 in the afternoon). But in eastern culture, torchlight processions late into the evening, are part of the deal, and it seems as though the proceedings go through several stages where the bridegroom could be delayed at an earlier venue, before he finally arrives for the banquet itself, to be greeted at last by the bridesmaids. 

(This is why it’s so important to understand the context of scripture)

It’s also a story rooted in the Jewish tradition of contrasting wisdom and folly – being sensible or being silly. The story invited the hearers then – and us today – to decide which of these we’d rather be. Being wise this case means being ready with enough oil for the lamp, and folly means not thinking about it until it’s too late.

But why weren’t they ready? Why were they shut out? Well, the answer lies at the end of the reading ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you’.
This word ‘know’ isn’t about academic knowledge and intellectual activity (like knowing the names of all the G20 leaders), it’s about being in a relationship. So the crucial statement here is that the bridegroom – Jesus, the returning King - has no relationship with the foolish girls. Jesus message is clear: there needs to be a relationship of love between ourselves and God and we need to be alert for his ‘coming’. Why? – because if we’re not, we’re going to miss out ‘big-time’. It’s going to happen; it’ll sort us all out when it does – and…

3. the arrival of the King has serious consequences
We read that the door was shut, and the foolish girls were excluded – it’s a horrible picture.
Now we don’t tend to do the hellfire and damnation stuff anymore – and rightly, because it’s replete with mediaeval images and misunderstandings (and I think a patent misreading of scripture). But the teaching of scripture doesn’t give us any reason to ignore eternal destiny completely, either. For it’s clear that, on the basis of Jesus’ teaching here and elsewhere, there are going to be eternal consequences. Tom Wright puts it like this:

“It is because what Jesus did was unique and decisive, changing for ever the way the world is and how God relates to it, that we have entered a new era in which his sovereign rule is to be brought to bear on the world. And in this new era, no less than in the unique time of Jesus and his followers, we need as much as ever the warning that it’s easy to go slack on the job, to stop paying attention to God’s work and its demands, to be unprepared when the moment suddenly arrives.

And indeed this is such a moment. People are looking for meaning in their lives now.

Are they going to listen to us?

Are they being provoked by the way we live; the way we talk to each other, and care for one another - to ask questions about what makes us tick? Or about why we go to church?

Do they see something different in me, in you?

I tell you what really communicates. I get calls from people after funeral services in church – often exhausted after the rigours of the process and going through all sorts of mixed emotions – but thankful, ever so thankful for all those who turned out to say goodbye to their dear one – and the palpable welcome and love that the family felt here in church (and those who were in Lynn’s funeral on Friday I’m sure felt it).

SO: the arrival of the King demands a response

Jesus tells some great stories – but they often have a real sting in the tail and (as the Americans say) they ‘cut to the chase’. If the return of the king is certain, if his arrival will result in judgement, and if it has eternal consequences, then this king demands a response.
When parents bring their child for baptism, in due course the child has to make that decision about following Jesus for him/herself – it’s got to become personal. It can’t be borrowed from others, or done on their behalf. It can’t be inherited either, and you’ll remember that this was one of the things that Jesus had a go at the Pharisees about.

Advent has traditionally been a time of preparation for the coming of the King. So it’s a good time to ask ourselves this question: Where are we in our relationship with God? Does it need some attention? Is it real? Is it personal? Is it living, or has it become a bit stale? Are we relying on something we have inherited from the past? Or is it up-to-date – speaking into and transforming our lives now?

Over the next few weeks people will be asking us that perennial question – ‘Are you ready for Christmas’. I suggest a far more important question is this. Are we prepared for the arrival of the king? Let’s make sure we are.