Church Sermon - November 17, 2002

HE SHALL COME AGAIN WITH GLORY TO
JUDGE BOTH THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

Rev. Mark F. Bartels

Epistle Lesson; 1 Thessalonians 1:3-10
Old Testament Lesson; Jeremiah 25:30-32
Sermon Text; Matthew 25:31-46

Did you hear about the man who went to a Halloween party one evening, dressed as the devil? He had a very realistic looking, hideous mask, with horns. He also had the forked tail and carried a pitchfork. It was a dark and stormy evening, as he drove through the countryside, on his way to the party. Unfortunately, when he hit a puddle of water in the road, his car skidded off of the road into the ditch. Since he couldn't get it started again, he had to get out of his car and go look for help.

So here is this man, dressed up in a devil's suit, walking in the pitch dark, down the road, on a stormy night, looking for someone who could help him! Off in the distance, the first building he saw that had lights on, happened to be a church. He could hear from the singing that was coming out of the building, that they must be having a church service, that evening. And, sure enough, they were. There were a bunch of Christians inside that church, gathered together to hear the Word of God and sing God's praises.

When this man, who was dressed up in a devil's costume, saw the church he thought to himself, "I'll go into that church. Certainly someone there will be able to help me."

In the pitch-dark night, he walked up the steps, to the entrance of the church. The door creaked loudly, as he opened it. All the people of that congregation turned around to see who was standing in the doorway. All of a sudden there was a bolt of lightening and from the light behind him, everybody could see that it was the devil standing at the back of the church! Immediately, the people began to scatter. Some of the people jumped out the windows, and others ran out the side doors. Soon the church was vacated. It was completely empty, except for one elderly lady. She was standing in the middle isle of the church. She looked back at the devil, with her cane in her hand, and a little grin on her face. And as she was shaking her cane at the devil she said, "Mr. Devil, I don’t know what you came to our church for, but I want you to know that I have been a member of this church for the past 40 years…. And I’ve been on your side the whole time!"

You see, she got found out, didn’t she? She got found out. She had gone to that church. She had sung the hymns. She heard the scripture readings. She had gone to the potlucks. And she appeared to be a Christian, but she got found out. Here we are, sitting in this congregation. Here we sit, today, the members of Holy Cross Lutheran Church. It’s a very sobering thought that we don’t know whether or not, in the midst of us, there may be hypocrites sitting here today. There may be people here, who sit in church, who wear the tie, who open the hymn books and sing the hymns, who go to the board meetings, who shake hands, and yet in their hearts, do not believe that Jesus is their only savior from sin. But we can’t tell. We cannot tell by looking at people whether or not if they are true believers in Jesus as their savior or whether they are hypocrites. But our scripture reading wants us to be very soberly reminded that there is a day coming, when the hypocrites will be found out. That day is the Day of Judgment. That day is the day, when it will become evident to everyone, who the true believers were and who the hypocrites were. Jesus tells us in scripture, "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven." There He reminds us there are people who will go to church and say, "Lord, Lord", but not everybody who says that will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. There will be hypocrites.

Jesus told the parable of the tares among the wheat. (Tares are weeds that look just like wheat.) In the parable, the farmer went out and planted his wheat. His enemy came and planted the tares (the weeds) among his wheat. As they grew up together, they looked just the same. So the farmer let them grow together, until the day of harvest. And then, he separated the wheat from the tares. He burned up the tares and saved the wheat.

The day is coming, when that great day of separation will take place, and it will become evident who was the wheat and who were the tares, who were the sheep and who were the goats.

"He will separate the people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left."

The Bible tells us that Jesus will come back in all of His glory. Jesus will come back in all of His glory! He will not come back in the simple means of The Word and The Sacrament of Bread and Wine, or the water of Baptism, anymore. The world may look at those simple, little means and laugh at them. It seems as though it appears to the world that they are small, insignificant and having no power. But, that day will cease. Jesus will come back, (as He says in today’s scripture reading) in His glory. He will come back with a loud command, with a voice of the archangel, with the trumpet call of God. He will appear in the skies, in all of His glory, might and power. The Son of God will shine with all brilliance.

And, all of the world, all of the world, will be gathered together. The dead will be raised! And no one will be able to stop the dead from being raised. The voice of Christ will command the grave to give up all her dead. And, all of the people, living and dead will be gathered. Jesus says that even though many will run and cry to the mountains, "fall on us", and to the hills, "cover us", that won’t happen. Jesus will gather together all the people, living and dead.

And, when they are gathered together, scripture says He will separate them, like the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. It is at that moment, that the great Judgment will take place. Without a word, without a word being spoken, there will be a great separation that takes place. The Bible tells us that on that last, great day, the angels will come and they will gather together Christ’s people. It says, "Two women will be on the roof. One will be taken and the other left. Two men will be working out in the field. One will be taken and the other left."

First, the angels will gather together the sheep of Christ, the followers of Jesus. They will all be gathered together. There on His right side, will stand a great multitude of believers in Christ, from every tribe, nation and language. They will stand before the Throne of the Judge.

On His left will be those who were left, those who are still remaining, the unbelievers. And, when that happens, the judgment will have already taken place.

It will be patently evident that there are only two groups. There are only two groups in this whole world, believers in Christ and unbelievers. No one will be able to hide from anyone else anymore, where they stood in relation to Jesus, our savior. God forbid that those on the right, the sheep gathered on His right, would look over, across that great gulf between them and those on the left, the goats, and see somebody from Holy Cross Lutheran Church. God forbid that we would look over there and see a Holy Cross Lutheran Church member, standing among the goats.

Jesus tells us about the great Day of Judgment because He wants everyone here today, to ask the question, "Will I be among the sheep, which stand at Christ’s right hand? Or, will I be among the goats, who stand at Christ’s left hand?" I want you to consider the fact that after the judgment has taken place, which is final, after that separation has taken place, Jesus will explain to the entire world why, why you are on my left and why are you on my right.

Here is the explanation as to why some will be gathered on His left. Jesus will say to those on His left, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." And then He will say this. "For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me."

There our savior will speak about the damnable sins that separate the cursed from Him, for all eternity. I want you to notice the sins that Jesus mentions. I think often times we consider damnable sins to be those great, huge sins, like murder, adultery, theft, robbery, lust and greed. But what does Jesus mention here? Jesus mentions, not great, huge, massive sins that people have committed, but Jesus mentions things that people didn’t do. He mentions the things that they didn’t do, which we call the sins of omission, the things they left out. And, they are simple, little things. They are simple, little things that are damnable in God’s eyes.

Jesus says,

"For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat,"

"I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,"

"I was a stranger and you did not invite me in,"

"I needed clothes and you did not clothe me,"

"I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me."

Those are all damnable sins. That, my brothers and sisters is a frightening thought. That is a frightening thought, as I look at my life, and I am sure that you are the same, if you look at your life.

Jesus explains, "whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me."

When I look at my life, I know that I have not always feed the least of these, Christ’s brothers. I have not always clothed the least of these, Christ’s brothers. I have not always taken them in, when they are strangers. And, my heart stands convicted by those words of Jesus Christ. And, everybody here, I hope, admits that because of what we have left out, we deserve to stand on His left, among the goats and be condemned for all eternity.

If that troubles you, then we should consider the jailer in Philippi, who was about to take his own life, but in the last moment was spared, and cried out to St. Paul, "What must I do to be saved?"

If that troubles you, we ought to also cry out from the depths of our hearts, "Lord what must I do to be saved?" He cried out to St. Paul, "What must I do to be saved?"

Do you know what St. Paul’s answer to that man from Philippi was? His answer should be impressed on the heart of every single person. These words are of such comfort. These words are such grace. St. Paul answered the jailer, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved."

Period.

Think about what our Lord Jesus Christ did for us. I remember being at the deathbed of a dear woman from this congregation. She was a faithful member. She went to church and sang her hymns. But there on her deathbed, just the day before she died, her whole continence had changed, from what it normally was. She was normally a confident believer. But, when I walked into the room, I could see that she was troubled. So, I asked her how she was doing. She told me that she was not doing so well. So I asked her why. When she told me she was worried, I asked her what she was worried about. She looked at me with a pleading look in her eyes and replied, "My sins. My sins." She knew it wouldn't be long before she would stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. She knew that she was not perfect. She knew that she had sinned. And, it troubled her.

So, what do you say to someone like that? You know what I said to her? I said, "Then you should have confidence. If your sins trouble you, you should have confidence, because you are the one that God wants to talk to! You are the one that God wants to show His mercy to. You are the one that God wants to save. Do you remember what His promises say?"

Then I began to recite this verse,

"Christ Jesus came into this world to save…"

And she finished it the verse by saying, "Sinners!"

I looked at her and said, "You are sinner, aren’t you?" And, she said, "Yes I am."

I said to her, "That passage says that Christ Jesus came to this world to save who?"

And, she replied, "Sinners!"

And, so I asked, "Does that mean that Christ Jesus came to save you?"

And, she replied, "Yes, it does!"

Then I took her to the many passages in scripture that tell us how Jesus Christ saves sinners. I took her to the many promises in the Bible that say, Jesus, God’s Son died on the cross. And there on the cross He washed away the sin, every sin that we have ever committed. They are removed. They are gone. They are forgiven! It is like they never existed!

And, after I took her to all of those passages, her countenance had changed. She couldn’t stop saying,

"Thank you Jesus.

Thank you Jesus!"

Which takes us to those gathered on Christ’s right hand. If you are troubled over your sin, turn to Jesus, your savior. Trust His promise that He forgives the sins of all people. You are declared not guilty, because of what he has done. The Bible says, "Believe and you will be saved." That is who stands on Christ’s right hand, on the Day of Judgment. It is the believers, the humble believers in Jesus, as their savior. To those people Jesus will say, Come.

"Come,

you who are blessed by my Father;

take the inheritance,

the kingdom prepared for

since the creation of the world."

There He calls it an inheritance. An inheritance is not something that we earn. It is not something we deserve. It is something that is just given to us, as a free gift. He says,

Then I want you to listen to these words of Jesus.

"For I was hungry and

you gave me something to eat,

I was thirsty and

you gave me something to drink,

I was a stranger and

you invited me in,

I needed clothes and

you clothed me,

I was sick and

you looked after me,

I was in prison and

you came to visit me."

Did you hear one sin mentioned there? Did you hear even one sin mentioned there? Not one. Not even one. That is the judgment of Christ, on His believers. Sin is gone. It has been removed. It has been tossed into the depths of the sea, never to be brought up again. It has been removed as far as the east is from the west. We have been cleansed. The blood of Christ has purified us. Not one sin is mentioned. We are justified. There, on the Day of Judgment, Jesus declares us, "Not guilty!"

What does He mention? He mentions holy deeds, holy works, all of which are ours, through Christ Jesus, our savior. He declares us to be holy and perfect in His eyes. It is all about grace. It is all for you!

Listen to what the believers will say.

"Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?"

You see, believers won’t even be looking to their own good works. They won’t be looking at that all, because they know that it is Jesus, and only what Jesus has done that saves them.

Then, Jesus will say to the believers, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me."

What wonderful words our savior says there. Those wonderful words remind us that believers in Christ (and it is only the believers in Christ) show forth fruits of faith. There is evidence, evidence in the life of a believer, that he trusted his savior, he loved his savior, and he wanted to serve his savior. The evidence is there. The good works that believers do, because they love their savior, is the evidence. The good works don’t save us. Our savior saves us. The good works are there as evidence, evidence that we love our savior. Think of the evidence that Jesus speaks about. It is simple little things. "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat…Whatever you did for the least of one of these brothers of mine, you did it for me."

While a Christian is someone who wants to do good to all people, he especially wants to do good to his fellow believers. You notice Jesus mentions His brothers. Who are Christ’s brothers? They are the believers. You see, the Christian is someone who looks at a fellow believer and says, "There is Christ’s brother or sister. Jesus, my savior lives in them by faith. I love my savior. I want to serve my savior. I serve my savior, when I serve my brothers and sisters in Christ." And, so a mother in the middle of the night, when her little Christian child cries out, runs to that little child, knowing that her child is a believer in Christ, knowing that Christ lives in her child, knowing she serves Christ, when she serves her child. She remembers, "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat…Whatever you did for the least of one of these brothers of mine, you did it for me."

The evidence will be there that we were believers in Jesus, our savior. Faith alone saves. Faith alone saves, but the evidence that we were believers, will certainly be there. Jesus ends this whole section, by saying that on that last, great Day of Judgment, "Then they will go away to eternal punishment (the unbelievers), but the righteous to eternal life."

May it never be that one member from Holy Cross is among the goats that go away to eternal punishment. May God grant that all of us turn to Jesus, repent of our sins, trust in His forgiveness, cling to Him, and stand with confidence on that last great day!

Amen.

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