It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish

Pastor Max Lyons opens with a bridesmaid-zilla at a friend’s wedding he officiated: the maid of honor, a friend of the bride since age five, showed up an hour late, barked orders at everyone, and gave a speech she admitted she had not prepared. A friendship that started well did not finish well, and the same can be true of our walk with God. Pastor Max does not fear failure, but he does fear being excellent at things that will not matter when he stands before Jesus. His pet peeve in eschatology is Christians who fight over the timing of the wedding instead of getting ready for the groom.

Recap: the Jewish wedding

Last week framed the return of Jesus as a Jewish wedding: betrothal, preparation, and the groom’s return. Jesus paid the bride price with His blood and departed to prepare a place while the bride prepares herself. The groom often arrives at midnight, and the celebration is the marriage supper of the Lamb. Matthew 25 then gives three parables for preparing, beginning with the ten virgins.

Five wise, five foolish

The groom represents Jesus and the bridesmaids represent the church. The Greek word for foolish is moros, and the fifty-fifty ratio is sobering. Pastor Max does not make it a mathematical formula, but it suggests many who claim to follow Jesus are unprepared and will only find out too late. Everyone had oil, but only the wise brought extra. Reading the oil simply as good works would make salvation by works, and reading it simply as the Holy Spirit would imply some believers have more of the Spirit than others. Something deeper is going on.

What waiting reveals

The groom was a long time coming, as Jesus has been for two thousand years. You learn a lot about yourself while you wait. When God said to plant a church in Chicagoland, He also said not yet, sending Max and Juliet first to Nashville and then to Florida. If you cannot be faithful with the job you have or the shadows you serve in, why would God trust you with more? Had they moved when he wanted, Elan would have launched in early 2020. God’s calling always includes God’s timing.

You cannot live on borrowed oil

When the foolish bridesmaids ask for oil, the wise cannot give it. Faith, revelation, anointing, and prayers are non-transferable. Jesus paid the price, but Luke 14 says we must count the cost, which is everything. Showing an ancient olive press, Pastor Max explains that oil only comes from pressing, yet everyone wants the oil and nobody wants to be crushed. Too many are fair-weather Christians who skip church for any weather. You cannot say you love Jesus and hate His church, and “if you can’t endure inconvenience, you will not be able to endure persecution.” 1 Peter 1 says trials prove faith genuine. He imagines honest worship lyrics: Lord, I give You my heart, unless You touch my finances, my dating life, or ask me to forgive.

Following Jesus is binary

Borrowing marketing blunders like the Chevy Nova, Pastor Max names the church’s miscommunication: the belief that the right words plus good intentions are good enough for God. Jesus calls us to be His disciples—to follow Him with our lives, not merely identify with Him in words. Jesus repeatedly teaches two options: rock or sand, narrow or wide, sheep or goats, wise or foolish. Matthew 7 says the difference is seen by fruit. He lists signs that faith may be fizzling, such as saying I have to go to church instead of I get to, prayer as a last resort, and a faith kept private when inconvenient.

I never knew you

When the door is shut, the groom’s words use the Greek oida, meaning not that he fails to recognize them but that they never belonged to him. All ten were invited, had lamps and oil, and expected to enter, but only five were prepared. Genuine faith produces both good works and the flow of the Holy Spirit, and that tested faith is what keeps a lamp burning. Pastor Max recalls a friend who, twenty years ago, said he would probably become a Christian someday and never has. Putting it off is dangerous because another opportunity is not guaranteed. The invitation is to respond to Jesus today. His closing question: if Jesus were coming back in three days, what would you change? Change it now, because the one who endures to the end will be saved.