November 16, 2008

     Grace, peace and mercy to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

     Have you ever read news stories about ridiculous demands that music starts, movie starts and other big shot celebrities make when they travel someplace?  Some will demand only a certain color of M&M’s in their hotel room, or a specific type of drink at a particular temperature, or a specific fabric on the bed, or some other complicated preparations — because they are special!  Well, they think they are special!

     Today is the last Sunday in the church year and these last Sundays we have read parables from the 25th chapter of Matthew regarding the Day of the Lord, the Day when Jesus returns.  In the parable of the 10 virgins, we are told to prepare now for the day of the Lord.  Last week, the parable of the talents told us that there would be an accounting at the end — did you do what you were supposed to do while the master was away?  Today, we have the parable of the sheep and the goats – one of my favorite parables.  It talks about not only how we are supposed to live while waiting for the master to return, but also how God has prepared for us to be with him.  We focus so often on how we are to prepare, but here is an opportunity to consider the great love of our Father for us and how he has prepared for us to be with him on that Last Day.

     We look at what we do while waiting for the master to return.  Jesus said that when the Son of Man returns — and what a glorious picture that is! — he will call his sheep.  Our Old Testament lesson talked of the great concern of God for his sheep — how he would personally gather them and lovingly and gently care for them.  In other places in the Bible, Jesus talked of calling his sheep.  “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me,” Jesus said in the gospel of John.  And when Jesus calls his sheep, they seem to be surprised that they have been called.  Jesus points out that their actions show what they have been all along.  Their actions were natural — they weren’t even aware they were doing acts of kindness.  They were amazed.  When, Lord, when did we see you hungry?  Thirsty?  A stranger, and care for you?  When, Lord, did we see you in the hospital, in the nursing home, lonely, afraid?  Christians don’t keep lists of acts of kindness.  It’s not like we will present a list of good things we have done when we get to the judgement throne — because if we think that will make a difference we know that God will have a longer list of acts that we wouldn’t want on the front page of the newspaper.  “Did you really do this?”  The Holy Spirit works through followers of Christ and good works become a natural response.  Sometimes we might think that nobody sees or appreciates our acts of caring.  An exhausted mother caring for a sick infant in the middle of the night, a husband or wife working extra jobs to try to provide for a family in tough economic times, a husband or wife sacrificing to keep a family together in a world that does nothing to encourage it, a student or a worker trying to live a God-pleasing life in an environment that encourages short cuts and self-centeredness, a son or daughter caring for a father or mother in a nursing home.  You may think that nobody sees or appreciates, but God sees and God cares, and God blesses your acts of kindness — even to the least of these my brethern -  you have done it for me.  God open our eyes to show us opportunities to serve him by serving others.

     Of course, there are times when we are on the other end of acts of kindness.  There are times when we are sick, hungry, lonely, griving.  At those times, we allow others to serve God by caring for us.

     Jesus said, “Whatever you did to the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me.”  Who is Jesus’ brother?  In Matthew Chapter 12, Jesus said “whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”  As Christians, we are called to care of each other.  In First Corinthians, Paul wrote “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member if honored, all rejoice together.”  We are Jesus’ brother, part of his family caring for each other.

     Not only do we prepare to meet God, but, much more importantly, God has been preparing for us.  In fact, Jesus tells us he has been preparing for us since the foundation of the world.  We do good works, but apart from Christ, no work that we do is considered good or pleasing to God.  The 10 Commandments show that we deserve to be judged and to receive condemnation.  We are haunted by the opportunities to do good that we did not take advantage of, especially when we hear what Jesus says to the goats -  I was in prison and you did not visit me!  I gave you opportunities to serve and you didn’t take advantage of them.  Too often, we look and act like those greedy, selfish goats.  We know we that we deserve punishment that the goats received.

     God did not prepare punishment for people from the foundation of the world.  The place of eternal punishment was prepared after the creation of the world for the devil and his evil angels for rebelling against God.  You’ll remember that on the sixth day, after God created the world and everything in it, he declared everything he had made to be “very good.”  But before God created the heavens and the earth, he already had you in mind.  Before the waters were separated to form the dry land, the sea and the sky, Jesus had you in mind.  And more than that, Jesus prepared his kingdom for you.  But the world didn’t stay good and God was forced to create a place for Satan and his followers.  God also prepared a way for you to be reconciled to him and live with him in his kingdom forever.  Jesus spoke of his father’s mansion.  In John’s gospel, Jesus said “In my Father’s house are many rooms.  If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”  God desires that all people would accept his gifts, would trust him and be saved.

     Just days before his death, Jesus told his disciples about his return.  Everything had been planned out and everything was going to follow the plan he had created, that had been prepared by God from the foundation of the world.  Shortly after these words were spoken and Jesus talked about his returns, he was arrested, underwent an unjust trial and was horribly executed by death on a cross.  He did this to take the punishment that we deserve.  By what he did, Jesus prepared us for his kingdom.

     When Jesus took the punishment for our sins, he gave us his own righteousness.  Jesus lived a perfect life.  He perfectly cared for the weak and the poor, the outcasts of society, and gave himself completely.  He gave everything and continues to give everything, including his body and his blood.  The Bible tells of Jesus fedding the hungry 5,000; of healing the sick, of freeing people from burdens.  Every act of love that Jesus did is now counted as yours in God’s eyes.  When God looks at you, he sees the righteousness, the perfect life of Jesus.  So God’s kingdom, prepared from the foundation of the world, is yours also.

     Our Lord tells us that he prepared a kingdom for us to comfort us.  When we talked about the end, it can make us anxious or frightening.  But we need not fear his return.  Because God has forgiven all your sins, you will be found at his right hand.  You will receive the kingdom that he has prepared for you.  You will hear the wonderful words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  And he loved you so much that he planned your salvation and your reward before the foundation of the world.  You are a guest your Lord has been waiting to receive for a long, long time, in fact, since before time began.

All content is used with permission from the copyright owner, Pastor L.B., and may not be used without my express written permission.  Copyright 2008