Sermon Test of Matthew 25:31-46 "Faith in Action" 11-23-08

Matthew 25:31-46 “Faith in Action” 11-23-08

Today’s text follows up on last week’s theme of being prepared for the end of time. In the fullness of time, the era of grace ends and the time of judgment begins. The time for making decisions is over and now Jesus judges us. In our text today Jesus gives a surprising image of what his judgment will look like.

Matthew 25:31-46:

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.'

Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?'

And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'

Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'

Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'

And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

All nations, all people, and all the angels gather in front of the throne where Jesus sits as judge. You and I will be there there. There is no side room where we dwell in safety from Jesus’ all-knowing eyes. We gather with all the angels to receive reward or punishment. We gather to be judged.

Jesus doesn’t give us a fanciful image. He reveals the historical future for us. Judgment is coming. The present world will end as a dream and the new and everlasting world will begin with this scene.

Judgment will come as a fork in the road of human history. Some go to eternal life with God and others go to eternal punishment in hell.

Let’s begin with a theological question.

Have you ever been asked what will happen to people who’ve never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ in this life? Have you ever been asked, “What happens to people eternally if they’ve never been given the chance to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord?”

I have…I even got asked this question by a pastoral search committee. It’s an important question, and this text gives one of the best answers in the entire Bible.

Those who never hear the good news of Jesus Christ have hope because they met Jesus even though they didn’t realize it.

Jesus so identifies with the suffering that when people who don’t know Jesus come into contact with the hurting, they meet Jesus. He’s everywhere! He’s in the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the homeless, the sick, and the imprisoned.

If people don’t hear about Jesus in this life, he will judge them based on how they responded to Him in the least of these. In saying this, Jesus fulfills the promise of his words, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

“Jesus opens up the gates of heaven to the simplest people in the world” (Bruner, 569) and they respond with dismay! “We didn’t know you in our lives and we didn’t see you in the people we served…we just responded with love.” Jesus welcomes them into his kingdom.

What about sin and forgiveness? When we talk about the gospel, we always and rightly talk about our sin and our need for forgiveness.

In the end, Jesus comes in glory as one who has dealt with the problem of sin once and for all and his words are built on His forgiveness…a forgiveness that even brings those who knew him not into his eternal kingdom if they served him by serving the needy (Bruner 752).

We don’t need to worry about who’s in and who’s out, that’s for Jesus to determine. He knows clearly who gets in. As plainly as a farmer knows the difference between a sheep and a goat, Jesus knows how to sort humanity.

This doesn’t release us from Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations, but it does reveal his amazing grace to those who’ve never been introduced to him.

So if you get asked how Jesus will judge people who didn’t hear about him in this life, this passage is a good place to turn for the answer.


Now to the main message of this text…In this scene of eternal judgment, Jesus reveals that faith in action is the only faith that leads to life. Or, more pointedly, there is no such thing as faith without service.

All the people who’ve ever lived gather together with all the angels and Jesus sits on the throne as judge. He separates people and sends them to one of the two places he’s prepared.

The sheep enter the bliss of heaven, while the goats go into the torment of hell.

Jesus welcomes the sheep into his kingdom because they fed him, gave him water, housed him when he was homeless, clothed him, visited him when he was sick, and came to see him in prison.

Jesus sends the goats to hell because he was hungry and thirsty and they turned a blind eye. He was homeless and naked and the goats ignored him. He was sick and in prison and the goats didn’t care.

What’s missing from this image? What category of questioning does not appear on Jesus’ lips?

The classic theological questions are missing. The questions from Jesus, “Do you believe I am Savior? Did you follow me as Lord? What do you think of me?”

Here Jesus does not ask, “Did you claim the forgiveness I offer as your own? If so, come into my kingdom, if not, go into eternal suffering.”

In this scene of judgment, why doesn’t Jesus ask us if we believe in Him as Savior and Lord? Why doesn’t he ask us if we’ve received salvation from him by faith? Why doesn’t Jesus ask any questions about belief or theology?!

Maybe faith requires simple and merciful action. Maybe faith only exists as faith in action. Maybe we’ve set up a false tension between faith and works in regard to salvation.

Will you allow me to speak in generalities for a minute or two? I think the Catholic Church has so emphasized good works with regard to salvation that some Catholic Christians have no assurance of their eternal home. They so stress the activity of faith that it becomes the essence of salvation. Do enough good and you’ll get into heaven.

Where is the relationship with God? Where is the blessed assurance Jesus is mine oh what a foretaste of glory divine?! It’s lost because of an undue emphasis on performance.

On the other hand, in the protestant church, we have so emphasized forgiveness, belief, and proper theology that people don’t think their life of action matters. The point becomes praying to God once for forgiveness and receiving the free gift of eternal life.

Our salvation is so assured that we can live however we want. No wonder people ignore the church [or attack it with shouts of ‘hypocrites]! We are like those in Titus 1:16 who profess to know God, but by their works deny him – people who are “detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.”

We’ve been consumed by a desire to believe correctly and to know enough about God but such knowledge has no use unless it’s put into action. James says “Even the demons believe…and tremble.”

The zealous may go on crusades so that others will pray the sinners’ prayer. Others may put supreme focus on their personal relationship with God. But most typically the convert simply goes about living a normal selfish life.

Could it be that faith requires more than one simple confession at one point in our lives?

(Pause)

This text reveals that genuine faith in Christ is lived, not simply claimed once.

Ephesians 2:8 and 9 has been used for decades as an argument for salvation by faith and not works. It says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast.”
But do we know the verse that follows these two? It says, “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”

In Christ we are a new creation – created for good works.

And it’s not like Jesus expects that much. This end of time judgment scene shows what is needed; mercy – practical kindness to the suffering.

Jesus doesn’t say to the sheep entering his kingdom, I was sick and you healed me, or I was imprisoned and you liberated me, no, he says you gave practical little services. When I was hungry you fed me. When I was thirsty you gave me a glass of water. When I was naked and homeless, you took me into your home and clothed me. When I was sick and in prison – as lonely as a human can be – you visited me. You simply spent time with me.

Do we identify Jesus with people in desperate need? Do we understand that when we serve those in need we serve our Savior?

Luther writes, “O dear Lord God! How are we so blind that we don’t take such love to heart! Who could have thought it up that God himself throws himself so deep down into our midst and accepts the works of all those who give themselves to the poor as though they were done for him. Thus the world is full, full of God – in every alley, before your door, you find Christ.”

Bengel asks, “Who would not run to prisons and hospitals on errands of mercy if assured that Christ is there?”

Bill Robinson tells the story of arriving to begin regular work with inmates at the state penitentiary in Stillwater, Minnesota. “The chaplain took me aside and said, “Don’t forget Bill. If Matthew 25…is right, you didn’t come to bring Jesus to these guys; you came to find him.”

Only faith in action exists. There is no such thing as faith without works.

Please understand that I am not contradicting the gospel I’ve preached for almost three years here. I’m not preaching a different gospel. Salvation is a free gift from God. It is not earned. However, we are recognized by others as Christians by our love and by Jesus at the end of time by the results of our faith.

Klyne Snodgrass puts it the best, “There is no tension between faith and works because, properly understood, faith encompasses works and necessitates productive living. Faith works, but it does not use its activity to prove to God or to people that the believer is righteous.

[An executive friend of mine] (My executive friend…) makes corporate decisions in keeping with his faith. That does not make him presentable to God or better than other people. That is just what faith does. It has a new agenda and seeks to work it out. A life of obedience is not something separated from faith; it grows out of the relationship with God that we have by faith. Works are made possible by faith.” 105

By faith, we are what Christ has made us – a new creation made for serving others.

Biblical faith demands that God run our lives, not us. If there’s no evidence in our lives that we’ve laid aside our interests and now respond based on God’s interests, maybe there is no faith in us.

Biblical faith demands all that we are – the intellect, the will, the emotions, and yes even our money and possessions. (Snodgrass, 98) Jesus asks us to use what we have for his kingdom of love and mercy.

He doesn’t say you have to give $1000 to feed the hungry to be saved. You have to do 100 visitations of the sick to be saved. But he does say we have to live the life he’s given us for the sake of others.

In this scene of eternal judgment, Jesus reveals that faith in action is the only faith that leads to life.

How are you responding internally to these words of Christ?

“Disciples who in good faith hear this “damnation of nothings” will fall on their knees in poverty of spirit to ask the Lord for another chance to be someone more helpful the rest of their lives.”

Pray.

This morning I emailed you a short story by Leo Tolstoy entitled, “Where Love Is, There God Is Also.” For those of you without an email address I’ve made copies for you. They’re on the tables in the fellowship hall. I want you to read it this week. It has everything to do with discovering Christ in those in need.