Worship November 15. 2020 German Church of Atlanta Greeting and Announcements Sermon Matthew 25: 31-46 31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 Before Him will be gathered all nations, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats. 33 He will set the sheep at His right hand, but the goats at the left. 34 “Then the King will say to those at His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. 35 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. 36 I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 And when did we see You sick or in prison and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer, ‘Truly I say to you, as you have done it for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you have done it for Me.’ 41 “Then He will say to those at the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave Me no food, I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they also will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not serve You?’
45 “He will answer, ‘Truly I say to you, as you did it not for one of the least of these, you did it not for Me.’ 46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Dear Congregation, Matthew 25 as the recipe for success to get into Heaven?In my mailbox I often find those strange advertisements: I can buy a book that gives me 1000 very “legal” ways of avoiding to pay taxes. Another promises me 50 tips to have more success with women. And yet another offers it even briefer: Ten steps to becoming a millionaire! Our sermon text delivers it even shorter: With six steps into Heaven! On Monday I feed a hungry person. On Tuesday I am giving somebody who is thirsty some water. On Wednesday I allow a stranger to sleep on my sofa. On Thursday I have the consignment folks come and pick up a sweater for a naked child in Africa. On Friday I stop by in the hospital and visit a neighbor who is sick. On Sunday I am watching the series “Behind bars” and this way am able to check of my prison visit. On Sunday I am then confident and tell my God: I have done everything that Matthew asked from me in the sermon text. And this should guarantee me a place in Heaven, shouldn’t it? If it was that easy, it would be great. With six small social behaviors I could solve the whole questions of “Heaven and Hell”, I could elegantly answer the whole wonderment if my life is acceptable before God’s eyes. I realize: Such six step theory has something comforting and calming.
Unfortunately it has one issue: It is absolutely not true. When we look closely at the scene that Jesus tells us here: There are nations coming to the place of judgment. Everybody knows: this is the hour of truth. And many people thought about what they could present standing in front of the judge’s chair. May be some even brought their lawyer’s argument with them in their pockets. But then things went differently: In Jesus’s story there is no careful listening for pro and cons arguments, for good and bad deeds, for the amount of offerings or visits of worship. Moreover, the nations are being divided into two groups: One to the right and one to the left. And the judge, the Son of God, looks into wondering faces: Why did we end up on this side and not on the other? We would have liked to argue our case! The answer of the world’s judge seems very simple: “I met you once –in form of the hungry, the thirsty, stranger, naked, sick and imprisoned. This is how I came to visit you. And I now sorted you according to your behavior. That’s how simple it is! Is it really that simple? Is the Gospel for today really the instruction: “With six steps into Heaven?” I don’t believe so: The decisive point seems to be the small sentences of those who are surprised: “When have we seen you hungry and have given you food” ….Yes, they did not even notice it when that happened. Those who are being praised have not even gotten a list with the six steps to get into Heaven. They have only lived their lives as they believed as Christians to be right and meaningful. And therefore they decided to provide food for those who were hungry, visited the sick and hosted strangers. The key question of this final judgment experience these persons had not known before! -So, what is now the most important: My deeds or my faith?
Dear Congregation, What did the judge base his decision on? I want to say that it was not the general social behavior, but that it was about the relationship to Jesus. For in his judgment he says: “You have given ME, you have visited ME. Not anybody, but ME you have cared for in your behavior. And that has happened by you standing and identifying with those who needed help. Apparently we can’t separate the love towards Jesus from the love towards other people. I can’t say: “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest” and at the same time refuse to offer food to those who are hungry. Doing so I would have at the same time uninvited Jesus again. My relationship with Jesus and my behavior towards others belong together. This is what becomes very clear in this story that Jesus tells.
Jesus actually identifies completely with those who are in need, who are in despair, who cannot make it without others’ support. By this he says: “I am deeply at one with you humans. With all humans. And also with you. You who help another person today, you who stretch out your hand today, you serve me in the other person. For I and the person who is in need, we are one. And one day, Jesus implies, you, the giver, will also be the one in need. You're going to be despair. You will have physical or mental hunger. Know that I, Jesus, am also one with you. Know that the help you will receive from others will come from me as well. For you, the people who believe in God and I, Jesus Christ, we are one. We could also say it this way: Our actions are always an expression of our inner orientation. Therefore our actions that love my neighbor are expression of my Christian faith. To say it in short: Where there is faith inside, love of others will come out. And therefore we need not be afraid of this story. Especially based on Lutheran theology. If we wonder if maybe in this story only the actions of people will be judged and one’s faith does not play a role anymore. Luther
would answer: No- our faith plays a central role in the actions of people when we are placed before the judge. – But, but, but!But: I don’t want to take away from this biblical story the certain “spiciness” it has without doubt: More than many other stories, it focuses me on my behavior. Jesus challenges me to think about my life and my behavior towards other people, especially on the basis of my faith in Him, who I want to shape my life. Therefore, these six ways of acting could be a helpful mirror in which I can see if my faith is becoming visible and tangible to the outside world. How is it with the Hungry and the Thirsty? Am I still noticing them? Or have I become immune to the needs and suffering of people in many countries around the world. Have I become indifferent to the reports of suffering of many people? Am I so tired of being asked to help that I don’t even open those letters asking for a donation, because I know I have to look at pictures of starving children? How is it with the strangers? Am I still willing to walk towards a person who I don’t know? Maybe a person who comes from a different country, has a different language or a different world view from mine? Are they still welcome or am I ignoring those who are different from me and believe that I don’t need them? How is it with those who are naked? When in school somebody is stripped by the mean words that the students say about him behind his back? And because the person does not even know the rumors and judgements that are being told about him, he is completely naked in this situation and cannot defend himself. How often do I speak up in those situations and offer the person who is gossiped about a mantle of mercy by challenging the gossipers? How is that with the imprisoned? Do I muster the energy to approach persons who are caught in their problems, who cannot approach me, but I have to work hard to find a way to
meet them. Am I patient until I will be let in, or am I quick to say: “OK, never mind…then you have to deal with your problems on your own.” How is it with the sick? Do I still notice and pay attention when people who are usually very strong and independent, yet suddenly need my help or a conversation with me? Am I available? Do I have the courage to invest much energy for a particular person who is going through a crisis? Time and energy that I could have used for myself? Sometimes my actions are the mirror of my most inner core. This is what those questions point me at. I don’t know how exactly it will look like when Christ as the world judge will pronounce his judgement. Maybe he will even ask questions that none of us expected. But based on the Bible we can stand on the assurance: When we live our lives as Christians and build our trust on Jesus, then we do not need to be afraid of the judgment: Whenever we lead our life based on our faith, then it is Jesus himself in us who shapes our actions. And then there won’t be any bad surprises even when our life is being examined in the end. Amen