18 November 2012 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA
Text: Matt 25:31-46 (Dan 7:9-14, 2 Pet 3:3-14)
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
We Christians sometimes catch
it from all angles. On the one hand, we
have groups of people who have all sorts of crazy predictions of the end of the
world. The latest craze is the ancient
Mayan calendar which supposedly informs us that we won’t really need to do any
Christmas shopping this year. Jesus
warned us about such attempts to predict the date or the hour of the end of the
present age.
On the other hand, there are
scoffers out there who say: “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all
things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation” as they deny
the historical facts of the creation of the world and the worldwide flood
described in Genesis. This group mocks
Christians for waiting expectantly for the Lord to return to create a new
heaven and a new earth, to destroy all evil once and for all, and to reign
forever.
All throughout history, we
have charted this middle course against the unbelievers on the one hand, and
against various heresies and cults on the other, who twist and distort
Scripture into things God never reveals to us.
And we have seen their predictions fall one by one, as the scoffers have
been there to mock them and us.
In the face of both, we
confess with our fellow believers as we have since the year 325 AD: “And He
will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom
will have no end.”
We do not wait in fear, but
in joyful expectation. For we know that
our judge is merciful, and that the rightful penalty for our sins has been paid
at the cross. We know that our Judge is
also our Advocate, that the one who will hold us in the scales of justice is
also the Lamb whose blood has satisfied the law’s righteous demands.
And we know that because of
His bloody sacrifice and by virtue of our being baptized into His blood, owing
to His grace, and according to His Word and promise, salvation has been given
to us as a free gift. Having been freed
from trying to earn God’s mercy, from attempting to curry God’s favor, from
seeking ways to convince God that we are something that we are not, instead, we
have been freed up to do good works simply because they need done, with no
other motivation than love. We are not
looking for a reward – for there is nothing left to give us, having received
everything from the hand of the Son of God Himself!
Indeed, on the day of
judgment, the righteous will ask: “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed
you, or thirsty and give you drink? And
when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you in prison and visit
you?”
For such good works should
flow out of a changed heart, not out of a desire to get something in
return. Indeed, dear friends, such good
works are the life of the redeemed sinner who already has the promise of
salvation rather than the struggle of a person hoping not to be cast into hell. Such works are performed with no thought of
being paid back, to the point where such deeds are simply done and forgotten
about.
And in response, “Truly, I
say to you,” says our Lord, “as you did it to one of the least of these My
brothers, you did it to Me.”
When the Christian does good
works for another human being, He is doing it to the God in whose image our
neighbors have been created. We are
serving God when we serve our neighbor.
And the opposite is also
true. Those whose hearts remain
unchanged by the Lord’s grace will demonstrate this unconverted disposition by
a refusal to do good works, and the Lord will say: “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.”
What we do grows out of what (and
who) we are. And this reality has been
revealed by our Lord’s love for us. We
cannot make ourselves righteous. We
cannot will ourselves to be good people.
We cannot draw good works out of an evil heart. We can only get out of the way as the Lord
makes us righteous by His miraculous will.
We can surround ourselves with the Word, with the Sacraments, with the
Gospel, and with the promises of His grace.
And by that grace, we can carry out the tasks the Lord has given to us,
not to earn salvation, but rather to “serve our neighbor and supply the proof
that faith is living.”
Dear brothers and sisters, we
cling to a living hope and a living faith, for we have a living Savior! We worship a living God who has given us His
living Word, a Spirit that rushes into us body and soul, bringing us into His
living kingdom!
And even as these days grow
darker, as storm clouds gather, as the times grow ominous, as the future appears
gloomier – we do not fall off the horse to either the side of the cults or to
the side of the scoffers. We do not put
our hope either in false teachers or unbelievers – but rather in the living
Word, our living Savior, whose living Spirit impels us to living works.
We hold onto the vision given
to Daniel: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man, and He came to the Ancient of Days and was
presented before Him. And to Him was
given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that al peoples, nations, and languages
should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass
away, and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
So, dear brothers and
sisters, let those who seek glory for themselves continue to make ridiculous
predictions. We shall not be concerned
or worried. Let the scoffer continue to
follow their own sinful desires, overlooking the fact that “with the Lord one
day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
As for us, let us continue to
live in the Lord’s mercy, content to serve our neighbor in His need – even as
we serve the Lord through such ministrations.
Let us wait patiently “according to His promise” as “we are waiting for
new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
And without fear and with
joyful expectation, let us look with joy, hope, expectation, and eagerness to
that day “when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him,”
when “He will sit on His glorious throne,” forever and ever. Amen!
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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