18 November 2018
Text: Matt 25:31-46 (2 Pet 3:3-14)
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
“We
are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells,”
says St. Peter. The old heavens and
earth, created perfect by God, have been corrupted by our sin. The result is chaos, conflict, pain,
suffering, and death. Every single bad
thing in this world can be laid at the feet of this reality: we are sinners in
rebellion against God’s perfect will. We
have allowed Satan’s question: “Did God actually say?” to live rent-free in our
minds. And were it not for our Lord’s
coming, His death on the cross, the full atonement for our sins, the grace of
the full pardon that we receive in His name – our universe, that is, the
heavens and the earth, would be without hope, just grinding along in increasing
dysfunction, until one day, it all just falls apart.
But,
dear friends, we are not waiting for the world to come apart at the seams. No indeed!
“We are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness
dwells.” Yes, the old universe will “pass
away with a roar” and “be burned up and dissolved,” but only so that, through
the Lord’s coming, they may be refashioned in a new beginning in which God will
recreate the heavens and the earth, again, “in which righteousness dwells.”
And
we long for this righteousness, dear friends. For a world in which righteousness dwells is a
world without pain, sorrow, suffering, or death. For it will be a world without sin, without
the diabolical question that isn’t really a question: “Did God actually say?” This “world in which righteousness dwells”
will be a homecoming, a return to Eden, a recapitulation of Paradise. It will be as glorious as life was before the
Fall.
But,
of course, we’re not there yet. We await
the Lord’s return. And while we wait,
the Lord bids us to be prepared, to wait expectantly, to wait wisely. We wait with joy, and we wait yearning for
that righteousness which will dwell in our new earth.
And
so St. Peter asks, while you are waiting, “What sort of people ought you to be?”
Does it make any sense that while we
wait and yearn for righteousness, we spurn righteousness and seek to lead
ungodly lives? Or as St. Paul put it,
should we sin all the more so that “grace may abound?” St. Peter comes out and says that we ought “to
be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of
the day of God.” And “since you are
waiting,” he says that we should “be diligent to be found by Him without spot
or blemish, and at peace.”
Of
course, we will not actually be “without spot or blemish” not at perfect “peace”
until the old heaven and earth pass away, until our own sinful flesh is remade
by God Himself, but we should at least see that this is the goal. We should be striving in this direction.
But
aren’t we saved by grace alone, through faith, apart from works? Of course!
That is the Word of God. But what
happens now that we have received this immeasurable gift? Does the gift somehow change us? Does the gift somehow reorient our minds? Does the gift manifest itself in our lives? How could it not, dear brothers and sisters? Of course, we are still sinners who sin in “thought,
word, and deed,” and of course, we are still trapped in our mortal, sinful
flesh, and of course, the devil and the world still conspire against us. But we are also redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb, and we are indeed waiting for the consummation of His kingdom, holding
fast to His promise. This Good News
changes us, even as the Holy Spirit comes to us and brings about our growth,
our love for holiness, our increasing desire to dwell in this coming eternal
and perfect world, and to be found by our beloved Lord “without spot or blemish.”
But
what does this even look like as we wait, dear brothers and sisters? For we still live in our sinful flesh in a
sinful world? How can this kind of
righteousness – even when it is a gift of grace – actually be lived out in the
fallen world?
Our
Lord tells us that when He returns, there will be two kinds of people: the
sheep and the goats. The sheep will hear
these words: “Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” They will hear the Lord recounting those times
when He was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, and in prison, and the “righteous”
came to Him in His need and was given food, drink, welcoming, clothing, and
visitation. The sheep were too busy
doing good works, that he had no recollection of doing them.
The
righteous person does good works without thought of buying his way into the new
heaven and the new earth. He just acts
out of love, the love of Christ. And
that is why Jesus says that whatever good works we do to our neighbor, we are
actually doing to Christ.
The
sheep are not redeemed as a reward for doing these works. Indeed, the kingdom was prepared for them “from
the foundation of the world.” But these
good works are a confirmation of the saving grace of God. The one who does these true good works doesn’t
even think about it. But, dear friends,
our neighbors need these acts of love for our Lord. Our neighbors are hungry, thirsty, alone, in
need, suffering, and bound by chains of various kinds. Love impels us to help. Love seeks no reward, but is rewarded
nevertheless. Our good works do not save
us, but they do save our neighbor from suffering.
Our
good works matter. And while they are
not necessary for salvation, our Lutheran confessions bluntly declare that “good
works are necessary.” For this is what
it means to yearn for the new heavens and the new earth. We desire that restored Paradise to the point
where we begin (though imperfectly) to live it even before it gets here. We don’t wait in despair or passivity, but
rather, we wait in victory and in expectation!
But
what about the goats? The goats will be
denied the new heavens and new earth, and instead will be cast into the “eternal
fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” For in despising their neighbors, they despise
Christ. And in despising Christ, they
spurned His gift of Paradise. For they
rejected the way of love: the way of the cross. And in rejecting the love of the cross, they
rejected the grace of the cross.
And
so we see how it is that we are saved by grace alone, and yet it is equally
true what we say in the Athanasian Creed: “Those who have done good will enter
into eternal life, and those who have done evil into eternal fire.”
And
so, what we do matters: not as the price of admission to the new heaven and the
new earth, but rather as a picture of the love that Christ has given us and how
that love has transformed us – even when we ourselves are ignorant of it. This is why St. Paul urges the Christians at
Rome to “Let love be genuine. Abhor what
is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love
one another with brotherly affection.
Outdo one another in showing honor.” He exhorts us and encourages us in our love
for our brothers and sisters in Christ, in love for our neighbors, and as our
Lord Jesus Christ has bid us, to love even our enemies.
And
knowing that these are the works of the Spirit in us, and not works for which
we can take credit, we would do well to pray for the Holy Spirit to come to us
and instill in us a zeal and fervency, a burning desire for the “new heavens”
and the “new earth in which righteousness dwells” even here while we wait. And indeed, dear brothers and sisters, we wait
in hope, even in joy, even in the midst of the darkness of sin and the assaults
of the devil. For we know how this all
ends. God did “actually say.” The Lord Jesus did actually come into our
broken world to heal us. He did actually
pardon us on the cross. He has actually
saved us by grace alone. And the Spirit
continues to implant in us a love of righteousness and a desire to actually serve
our neighbor in gratitude for this free gift.
Indeed,
we are waiting, dear friends, “waiting for a new heaven and a new earth in
which righteousness dwells.” Amen.
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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