St. Matthew 25:31-46
Dearly beloved,
The church is closing the doors on this church year.
Today is the last Sunday in the church's year of grace, and the theme
is Christ's judgment, His second coming to judge both the quick and
the dead. It is here. We hear, for the third Sunday in a row,
Christ's sermon on the Mount of Olives. It is preached to Jesus'
disciples, who asked the question initially, "Tell us when will these
things be, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of
the age."
Today we and the disciples learn that when Christ
comes again, the sheep will be lined up on the right side of Jesus and
the goats will be lined up on His left. Jesus will then say to the
sheep at His right, "come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." We may
ask "why these" and Jesus gives the answer as He continues: "for I was
hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I
was a stranger and you took me in."
The response from the sheep is strange, "Lord, when did we see you
hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink, etc." The sheep
had no recollection that they had done this. So, Jesus says to the
sheep, those who will inherit the kingdom with Him, "If you did it to
one of the least of these my brethren, then you did it to me."
Just in this exchange between Jesus and the sheep exists the
potential for a lengthy study. What does this mean? The Holy
Scriptures do not teach works righteousness. We are not saved nor
damned by what we do. What is at work here? To rightly understand
what Jesus is saying to these blessed ones at His right, one must
understand what it means to have a sacramental existence. We must
understand what it means to live our lives in faith. We must come to
realize what baptism does for us.
Our greatest problem is our sin. In fact, when we look at the sheep
and the goats, if we are honest with ourselves, we will say that we
more closely resemble the goats. They are the ones who are told in
this account that they did not feed the hungry, they did not visit the
sick, and they did not visit those in prison. Jesus then tells them
that "inasmuch as you didn't do this to the least of these my
brethren, you failed to do it to Me."
The point of distinction between the sheep and the goats is godly
love. If God's love is poured into people through the Word and Holy
Baptism, then this love will bubble forth to others. The distinction
that Jesus is making in this account between the sheep and the goats
is very simple. The sheep lived a certain way in this world precisely
because they were baptized.
Becoming Christ's child means something. St. Paul
talks about it. St. Paul tells the Galatians, "I have been crucified
with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of
God, who loved me and gave Himself for me"(Galatians 2:20).
Paul's language is clearly baptismal here, and it
speaks of the church's existence in the world. But the question that
always comes back to us is this: Do I really live my life as if Christ
lives in me? Or is my life indistinguishable from those who live as
unbelievers? The rite for individual confession and absolution says it
well. The Christian comes to the pastor, kneels and then reads a
written part of the service. It starts out saying, "I, a poor sinner,
plead guilty before God of all sins." Then what is said next always
seems to ring inside my head. It reads as follows, "I have lived as
if God did not matter and as if I mattered most."
That simple sentence says it all. "I have lived as if God did not
matter and as if I mattered most." There, in that simple confession,
lies the difference between the sheep and the goats. Therein lies the
difference between salvation and damnation, heaven and hell. Satan
lived as if he mattered most. Adam and Eve sinned with the
perspective that they mattered most. They wanted to be like God, they
were concerned about themselves. Judas Iscariot lived as if he
mattered most. We live as if we matter most.
It is ingrained in our thinking and behaving. The difference between
the sheep and goats, then, is what? Did the sheep do everything
perfectly? Did the goats somehow get it wrong all the time? All of it
gets back to whether or not one lives baptismally. Here is how it
works for those who live baptismally: A person gets baptized, has
their sins washed away and they put on Christ and His merits.
The baptized live lives where they confess their sins.
They readily learn that their relationship and life in Jesus is one
of repentance. Repentance does something important. It forces us to
look at our sins. We are always led to the feet of Jesus where we are
taught to confess that "I have lived as if God did not matter and as
if I mattered most."
It stares us right in the face and makes us acknowledge our sins.
Repentance leads to the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. This teaches us
what love is. The love of Jesus Christ for you is mercy, forgiveness,
patience and instruction. Part of Christ's instruction in the midst
of your receiving absolution is that you are in fact holy. Though you
are a sinner, you are somehow participating already in those things
that are eternal and beautiful. Christian belief is not just an idea
or an intellectual agreement. It is life. Christian belief is
precisely giving up ourselves and serving and being a part of
something else.
And what Jesus gives us to do as His sheep or holy children is not
too much to bear. Notice that Jesus tells the sheep that they visited
the sick. Jesus doesn't expect us to heal the sick. He just wants us
to visit them. Jesus doesn't expect us to free the people in prison.
He just wants us to come to them. What Jesus is telling us is that
the sheep simply love, going forth carrying the cross and letting
others know that we are already participating in something heavenly.
It begins and ends with Jesus.
Your sin will always work to get the better of you, but living out
your life by tending to God's word and receiving His sacrament is the
Divine medicine and antidote to sin. Through the means of grace,
Jesus will always lead you and bless you. The sheep didn't even
realize that in their Christian service in the world they had done all
sorts of good things, because it was Jesus using them. They simply
lived their lives in faith, looking to the author and perfector of our
faith to love them and forgive them.
You live in this grace of Christ, and the Lord forgives you all your
sins as He leads you to remember that it is He who matters most in our
lives. Your indwelling with Jesus means eternal blessedness and joy.
In the meantime, Jesus is faithful and will continue to come to you,
pronouncing absolution through the pastor and giving you His love
until all things are brought together at the end. Amen.
--
Rev. Chad Kendall
www.frchadius.blogspot.com
Trinity Lutheran Church
Lowell, Indiana
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