Ezekiel 34:11-16,
20-24 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 Matthew 25:31-46
Grace, Mercy and
Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text today is the Gospel lesson that was just read, especially these
words, “Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are
blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in
Christ. Today is the last day of the
church year. Next Sunday we celebrate
the church’s new year with the beginning of the season of Advent, but today we
focus on that great and ever near last day.
It is a day that our text today describes clearly. For on that day, Jesus will divide the holy
from the unholy. He will separate those
who belong to heaven from those who belong to hell, just as a shepherd separates
sheep from goats. Sheep will go to the
kingdom prepared for them, and goats will go to the eternal fire prepared for
the devil and his angels.
But what is the
difference between a sheep and a goat?
What is the difference from the saved and the unsaved? And which one are you dear friends in Christ? In our text today, Jesus tells us the
difference between sheep and goats. The
sheep have faithfully served their
Lord in care and compassion, while the goats have failed to serve God. So dear friends in Christ what are you, a
sheep, or a goat?
There are two ways
we can answer this question, the first one is to seemingly look at what we have
done in this life. After all Jesus seems
to favor the ones who work hard helping the people around them. Those who visited the sick. Those who visited the imprisoned. Those who feed the hungry and give drink to
the thirsty. In other words, those who
have lived a holy life of compassion and service will be saved. Those who get heaven have earned it,
right?
But we know the
truth of what that means. On our own,
not a single one of us have done enough.
Not one of us has spent enough time in doing good. We confess every week, “that we have sinned
in thought word and deed” and that we “justly deserve God’s temporal and
eternal punishment.” We have sinned, and
as sinners, we deserve death.
Sin, it’s a word
we often times just quickly say without understanding what exactly it
means. Sin literally mean that you are
turned inward on yourself. In other
words we put ourselves first in all situations.
We don’t serve others, we don’t help others first, but we help them if
it is expedient to us. We don’t visit
people unless we ourselves feel we have the time and patience to do so. We don’t care about others so often, solely
because we are more concerned about ourselves.
So are we all
goats? Do we all deserve hell? Do we deserve fire? Yes, but yet our text tells us that is not
what we will get. For in our text, it is
not our works alone that judge us. It is
our works done in faith that looks to Jesus.
That faith is what saves us, not what we do, or don’t do. Friends, it isn’t that you can save yourself
by going to visit a sick friend, it is the faith which compels you to visit
them. It isn’t that you can save
yourself by giving food to hungry people around you, but it is the faith that
compels you to do so.
It is a faith that
looks to Jesus, a faith that trusts not in our own acts, but in what Jesus has
done for you on your behalf. He lived a
perfect life, he showed compassion where you have fallen short. He loved where we have not loved. He cared where we saw only our own desires
and concerns. He died on a cross where
you deserved to be nailed, punished, and killed. He took and did what you could not do in your
selfish sin.
And having done
this for you, Jesus gives you that faith that compels you to serve your
neighbor. It is Jesus’ love for you that
first allows you to love those around you.
It is because Jesus has given to you, that you are now free to give to
those around you. It is because Jesus
feeds you when you are hungry, because he visits you when you are sick, because
he gave up his life for you in your sin that you are free to do the same to
others.
And the faith
Christ gives actively does those things that Jesus did. You love others having been loved first. And because you love others with a faith that
trusts Jesus, when God looks at you, he says, “well done, good and faithful
servant, in faith you served me, and you served those around you.” Come to the inheritance prepared for you from
the foundation of the world. Come
receive peace, and comfort and care.
Come, and I will give you rest.
Its your faith,
not your work. Its Jesus, not you. Your trust is in him, not in man. And so, you will enter glory. There is no doubt. You are a sheep, because Christ is your
shepherd. And as a sheep you deserve
heaven. Amen.
