Matthew 25:31-46.                          Jesus has the last word 23/11/14

 

(31)  "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. {32} All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. {33} He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. {34} "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. {35} For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, {36} I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' {37} "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? {38} When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? {39} When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' {40} "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' {41} "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. {42} For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, {43} I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' {44} "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' {45} "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' {46} "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

 The readings this morning again give us another very sobering and important message. Today being the Last Sunday of the Church year we are reminded that at the end of the day Jesus has the last word, not you and I.

 One day you and I will be called to account: we will face judgement for how we have lived our lives here on earth. What we believe and say here and how we live from here on will determine whether we go to the right or the left: to heaven or to hell. That should surely make us stop and evaluate what we are on about. Surely we will want to listen to and heed what our Lord has to say on this matter. We will want to take care as to what we are doing each day of our lives.

Yet at the end of the day, will what you say and think make any difference? Will our good deeds earn us the right to heaven, or will God simply accept everyone because he is a loving God? Or is there something else? Well, we are reminded here that in the final analysis Jesus will have last word - not you or I. Jesus will determine who and what the criteria is for acceptance on that great day. He, and not us and what we think, will have the final word on what is important.

 
Now think about that! There are heaps of people out there who don't really care too much about this Jesus stuff. They don't think too much about how God wants them to live, and yet they think it is all going to work out all right in the end. They think they will be able to stand up there on that final day and say, ‘hey, I was a pretty good guy – I didn't do anything too bad - God let me in.’ They think that they will get to be in heaven, if there is one. The assumption is that all who have not done anything too bad in life will be alright.

 At the same time we have many saying God is an all-loving and gracious God who ultimately accept us, because we are making a reasonable effort to be a Christian and live a good, moral life. ‘I know a certain amount about Jesus, or I speak in tongues or do whatever, therefore I will be acceptable.’ So again we are setting the criteria by which God will accept us.

  
But we are reminded here that Jesus will have the last word. Jesus will make the decision who gets to share heaven with him; and yes it will be determined by our attitudes, beliefs, and how we live here and now. It will be determined by how seriously we take Jesus Christ and what he has to say. Here remember he knows what and why we are thinking and doing what we are doing. Sadly, to many he will say, 'depart from me to the eternal fire.'

 But if you think that is scary, think about the alternative. What if there were no criteria for judgement, and right and wrong had nothing to be gauged against; except what we think at a particular point in time? What if there was no final evaluation as to what is important, and worst of all, what if there was no heavenly king to have the last word, but instead we are left to our own devises and to pass our own judgements on ourselves and others: Which of course are fallible because we cannot see the whole picture? That is scary! If that is all that life ends up being, it is frightening: That would mean a real dog eat dog world, with nobody at all winning.

 But Jesus will have last word, and what we say and think on that last day will in one sense be unimportant. Notice the only thing the people say as they are sent either to the right or left is, ‘when did we see you?’ No excuses - no pleading 'I tried' or 'I was a pretty good fella'. No bargaining. Even the judge, Jesus, does not question the people, because he already knows the facts. He knows our heart - he knows what is important to us – he knows what we have done and why we have done it. All he says is, 'come you blessed;' ‘Go you cursed'.

 The test has already taken place. “You looked after the hungry, thirsty, lonely, sick, and so on.” “Or you did nothing.” And even this is much more than merely scoring a few brownie points, or doing a few good deeds so as to enable us to get to heaven. It is not about simply being good enough to be acceptable. They are merely a selection of actions which indicate a person is living in harmony with the will of God. And it can be summed up simply as loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves. We need to remember that God alone can see into our hearts and minds, and knows if we are doing that. He knows who we are serving – whether we are loving and serving the Lord Jesus or not.

 Jesus makes it quite clear from his perspective that it all depends on the reason why we are doing what we are doing in every single aspect of our lives. He says, ‘as much as you did it for others you did it for me.’ Everything we do in life as Christians is done for Christ: done because of what he has done for us. Not to gain points. Not so that he will accept us and let us into heaven; but because he has done everything necessary for our salvation.

 He knew that we all have and continue to sin much and as a result deserve death and hell. Therefore he came to do what was necessary for us to be saved. He died on the cross so we might have salvation and eternal life. He gave his life so that we can have life, and can face judgement day with confidence. He has done what is needed so that we can have what is important.

 All that he now looks for, is for people who look to him and trust what he has done for them and their salvation. He even gives us the faith that we need in order to do this. He has done everything for us so that we can have eternal life as a free gift. However as we know, many have turned their backs on this gift and have willingly gone on and done their own thing; thereby rejecting this wonderful gift. But for those who do continue to look to him and trust in him and what he has for them, they have the assurance of forgiveness, life and salvation.

 As a result, now our grateful response is to love God and our neighbour: to give the hungry, food – the thirsty, a drink - to look after the sick – and so on. Even our work, sport, and recreation are all done in gratitude for what God has done for us in and through our Lord Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. Now we live in loving obedience: trusting that God knows better than what we do: trusting that he knows what is best.

 Now because we believe in what Jesus Christ has done for us and that he has the last word, and are now seeking to live as God wants because he is our Lord [our Master] and our Saviour, then we have nothing to fear when the time comes for us to face God on the last day. On that day what we are doing and saying here will be proved right. And all those who give us a hard time because we are Christians will be put to shame; and those who think that they can live without taking God and what he has to say seriously will realize their foolishness.

 But there are better reasons for looking forward to that day. God promises us so much more. Yes from that point on we will no longer have to question our motives or struggle to live the way God wants us to. That day of separation will be a day when our Lord removes us from all that would hurt or harm us: he will separate us from all suffering and pain. Instead we will have peace and happiness as we share in the very best of everything with our God, all of which will go on and on forever: eternal joy as we share fully with our Lord and saviour. All because Jesus Christ has the last word and not us.

 So with all of this in mind let us never lose sight of the Lord Jesus Christ and what he has done for, and will do for us. Let us not take him and his death on the cross for granted, ignoring him and what he has to say; which is all good for us. Out of gratitude for what he has done, let us serve him in everything we do, trusting him as our Lord and Saviour, and trusting his last word and every word. Looking forward to that moment when he says, 'come you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.'  Yes, Jesus Christ and his last word is what is important, so let us look to him and trust him now and always. AMEN.

 Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish