65 25.31

The first thing that I always do when I read a new book is to read the last few pages. Its something that I always do, and I can’t help it or stop it. I love reading the last scene and then reading the book to figure out what that last image portrayed means, or the reason and significance behind the closing quote. I enjoy seeing who is in that last scene so I know who is still alive at the end and so I can look out for this person as the book progresses. Doing this helps to guide my thoughts and understanding of the book as I read through it and when I approach those last few pages. I told my wife this and she responded, “You’re one of those people, I never do that. It ruins the book.” “Yes, I am one of those people, and I like doing it.”

Does that describe you?

In Matthew 24 and 25 Jesus reads us the last few pages. He tells us what will happen at the very end of the world. Jesus does this because an understanding of the end of the world shapes how we view our lives and how we live with each other here and now.

SERMON

We are finishing Matthew 25 this evening. In this chapter there are three stories Jesus tells about the end times. I would say three parables, but this third story isn’t really a parable though it may sound a lot like one. In these three stories Jesus talks about being ready for his return. In the first parable about the wise and foolish virgins we learn that we are to be watchful. In the second parable about the three servants each given money to watch over while their master is on a trip we learn that we are to be faithful. In this last story we learn that we are to be serving.

Video

SLIDE 1 A soldier stationed on an island of the Philippines during WW II told this story.

Although the region was secure, sometimes the enemy tried to infiltrate our food storage area. One such adversary, dressed in GI clothing, once worked himself into the noontime chow line. Our camp cook spotted him, reached under the serving table for his pistol and yelled for the MPs who were patrolling the area. After it was all over, we asked the cook how he knew the man was an enemy soldier. “I figured it wasn’t one of you guys,” he said, “cause he was coming back for seconds.”

That enemy soldier stood out because of his actions. Likewise, God tells us that we should stand out because our actions.

There is an acronym I’ve heard preachers use called W.A.T.S. It stands for: We Are the Sermon. In our passage from Matthew 25, Jesus is telling the disciples that he wanted them to be a sermon. He wanted them to be walking, talking, living, breathing sermons. He wanted them to live differently so that others would recognize them as his followers.

This is one of the hallmarks of Jesus ministry. People recognized him because of what he did and the disciples followed his example.

When the crowds were gathered around Him, Jesus said: SLIDE 2

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

In the book of Acts, Peter tells us: SLIDE 3

. . . how (Jesus) went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. (Acts 10:38)

And Luke tells us Jesus taught his followers: SLIDE 4

. . . when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind. (Luke 14:13)

Jesus taught this. He lived this. He modeled this. And he conducted his ministry in this way because that was what God had always said he wanted of his people. In Proverbs God promises us that:

SLIDE 5 He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done. (Proverbs 19:17)

SLIDE 6 A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor. (Proverbs 22:9)

And we read in Psalms: SLIDE 7

1 Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the Lord delivers them in times of trouble. SLIDE 8 2 The Lord protects and preserves them – they are counted among the blessed in the land – he does not give them over to the desire of their foes. SLIDE 9 3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness. (Psalm 41:1-3)

Being kind to the poor and downtrodden was central to what God had always asked of his people. In fact, this was so expected by God that he condemned those who failed to it.

When we think of Sodom and Gomorrah, we think they were destroyed because of the sin of homosexuality. That was part of their wickedness, but the prophet Ezekiel told Israel there was more to their iniquity than just that one sin. SLIDE 10

Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. (Ezekiel 16:49)

We are warned in Proverbs: SLIDE 11

If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered. (Proverbs 21:13)

One person, observing how prevalent this truth is in scripture, rewrote our passage from Matthew 25 this way: SLIDE 12

I was hungry and you formed a humanities club and discussed my hunger.

I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release.

I was naked and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.

I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health.

I was homeless and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God.

I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me.

You seem so close to God; but I am still very hungry, and lonely, and cold.

The person who wrote that realized that if we only talk about doing good for Christ the result is an empty and powerless faith.

There’s one issue about this passage that has troubled many commentators. If you were to simply read Jesus’ comments here in Matthew 25:31-46, you might get the impression that Jesus was teaching that good works can buy your salvation. Jesus tells one group that because they fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, gave a bed to strangers, clothed the naked, looked after the sick, and visited those in prison that they were going to heaven. Then he tells the other group that because they didn’t practice those kinds of things they were going to hell. Now it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to connect the dots and say: “If I do enough good deeds, I can get into heaven!” In fact, this is the teaching of every world religion – except for Christianity.

By contrast: Christianity has always taught that: SLIDE 13

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:5)

And in Ephesians we read: SLIDE 14

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

In other words, you can’t buy your way into heaven by doing good deeds – which is a good thing, because it would drive us nuts trying to figure out if we’d ever done enough to be acceptable.

So, if that’s true (if we can’t buy our way into heaven) what is Jesus telling us in Matthew 25? He’s telling us that if we are his children, we will be known by our good deeds. In Matthew 7 Jesus put it this way: SLIDE 15

16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? SLIDE 16 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. SLIDE 17 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. SLIDE 18 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (Matthew 7:16-20)

Are we producing fruit and what kind of fruit are we producing?

SLIDE 19 A preacher had a e-mail correspondence with an atheist. The atheist intended to challenge the preacher on the supposed advantages of Christianity. In the course of his arguments, the atheist maintained that the church failed miserably in Nazi Germany. Perhaps the man was right, but only partially.

Albert Einstein was not a Christian; in fact he was born a Jew. But he had seen firsthand what took place in Germany in those terrible years, and he observed:

Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler’s campaign for suppressing the truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration for it because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual and moral freedom. I am forced to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly.

Now, bear in mind, Einstein was not a Christian. In fact, he wasn’t even a good Jew. And yet, Einstein recognized the significance of the church, because the church stood up for righteousness. The church stood up on behalf of the weak and the downtrodden. Those Christians we a sermon not because of what they said from the pulpits and church building, but because of what they did out on the streets. Einstein recognized the church by it’s fruits.

In Matthew 25, Jesus is telling us what Christians will look like. He said they will feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, give a bed to strangers, clothe the naked, look after the sick, and visit those in prison. This is how you’ll recognize the followers of Christ.

But Jesus is warning us that there will be those who will claim to be Christians and we’ll be able to recognize them because they won’t do things like that. In Matthew 25, Jesus is essentially saying: “if you’re not bearing my fruit, you’re not really wearing my name.” It’s the difference between fake Christianity and real Christianity.

Many of you remember Ruby Hampton who lived on G Street beside the Big G Market. Ruby had flower baskets under her front windows. Every spring she would fill the baskets with flowers. They were in bloom all spring and throughout the summer when she took them out. They stayed in bloom because they were artificial. Driving past the house they looked pretty good. Only those who got up close knew they weren’t real.

The good thing about the artificial flowers is they were always in bloom. Another good thing was she didn’t have to take care of them. They didn’t need weeding or watering. They always looked nice. By the end of the summer they would begin to fade some, but by then it was time to take them out and she would start fresh the following spring.

The shortcomings of artificial flowers is they have no life. Nor do they smell good. They don’t smell bad either. They have no smell at all because they’re fake.

That was the difference between the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. If you didn’t know a lot about sheep and goats, you might believe that there wasn’t much difference between the two. Goats kinda looked like the sheep, but they are a mere imitation of the real thing. The goats Jesus put on his left don’t have God’s kind of life in them, the kind of life that produces the aroma of selflessness and sacrifice for others.

There’s one more application to be found in real flowers. Tell me, if a rose doesn’t have flowers on it is it still a rose? Of course it is. That’s because the flower is the fruit of a plant, it’s not the root. Even if there were no visible flower on the plant, it would still be a rose or a dandelion or a rhododendron.

The point is this: good deeds are the fruit of your salvation and not the root of your salvation. Good deeds don’t make you a Christian. But if you’re a real Christian they’ll be the flower of your faith.

Some Christians might become anxious at this point. They might ask: “What if I’m not doing enough good deeds to please God?” Now, it’s possible to ask the wrong questions in this life. And that’s the wrong question. The question should be: “Since good deeds please God how can I do more of them?” The first question is born of fear and apprehension. The second is born out of love and expectation. That’s because God’s kind of good deeds are those which are a reflection of our love for God.

Years ago there was a TV show called “Kung Fu”. It was about a Chinese monk skilled in art of Kung Fu. Though he was “a man of peace” you could count on him beating bad guys to a pulp at least twice a show. One of the story telling techniques they used was flashbacks to the days when he was a young trainee of blind master. The master called the boy “Grasshopper.” In one such flashback, Grasshopper was standing in a line to give a gift of flowers to the blind teacher. Before he could give his gift another student jumped in front of him with a similar gift of flowers. The master rejected the flowers and turned the boy away. Sadly Grasshopper turned away fearing similar rejection, but the master called to him. “Why do you turn away?” asked the master. “Because you rejected another student with the same gift,” the boy replied. “Oh, you don’t understand,” said the blind teacher. “He did not bring his gift because he loved me. He brought the gift to gain influence, to buy my approval. You have brought your gift out of love. That’s the gift I desire.”

You’ll remember how shortly after Jesus rose from the dead, Peter was undergoing a crisis of faith. He had denied Jesus three times after promising he would die to protect him. In humiliation Peter returned to fishing thinking that would be better than to risk disappointing Jesus ever again. Perhaps that’s why Jesus sat down beside Peter at a fish fry and talked to him about Peter’s love for him. SLIDE 20

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” SLIDE 21 16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” SLIDE 22 17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” SLIDE 23 He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17)

Essentially Jesus was saying, “Peter if you love me then do the things you know will please me.” Do you love God? Then you do things that you know will please him.

SLIDE 24 In a book called Rescuers: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors, the author interviewed a hundred-and-five people who had harbored fugitive Jews in their homes despite the danger to them and their families. A professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut found that many of the rescuers had a history of doing good deeds before the war – some visiting people in the hospital, others, collecting books for poor students, still others taking care of stray animals. He said that prior to the war they’d developed a habit of doing good deeds for others so that during the war they were only doing what came natural. God desires that we serve him out of our love for him. In the story the sheep are praised for a behavior that had become natural that they didn’t even realize they were doing it.

There’s a story about a man who’d driven his car into a ditch in a desolate area. Luckily, a local farmer came to help with his horse named Buddy. He hitched Buddy up to the car and yelled, “Pull, Nellie, pull!” But Buddy didn’t move. Once more the farmer hollered, “Pull, Nellie, pull!” Buddy didn’t respond. The farmer repeated this action again, with the same results. Then the farmer nonchalantly said, “Pull, Buddy, pull!” And the horse finally dragged the car out of the ditch.

The motorist was most appreciative and very curious. He asked the farmer why he called his horse by the wrong name three times. The farmer said, “Oh, Buddy is blind and if he thought he was the only one pulling, he wouldn’t even try.”

What we need to know is we’re never working alone. God is with us and even though it may not feel like it at times, there are other Christians working with you as well.

SLIDE 25 You may recognize this picture and remember its story. During World War II, a church building in Strasbourg, France was destroyed. After the bombing, the members surveyed the area to see what damage was done. They were pleased that a statue of Christ with outstretched hands was still standing. It had been sculpted centuries before by a great artist. Taking a closer look, the people discovered both hands of Christ had been sheared off by a falling beam. Later, a sculptor in the town offered to replace the broken hands as a gift to the church. The church leaders met to consider the offer and decided not to accept it. They felt the statue without hands spoke to them of the fact that Jesus had called them to be his hands and to minister to others.

And so it is still. We are his hands and feet. Out of our love and thanks to Jesus we need to be representing him to a broken and needy world.

SLIDE 26 In chapters 24 and 25 Jesus has been talking about the last days. What we need to remember is that Jesus is coming back. One preacher put it like this.

If you are pre-trib, mid trib, post trip, pan trip, pre-mil, a-mil, or partial preterist – Jesus will return. If you are a believer, an unbeliever, or a make-believer – Jesus will return. If you are an atheist, agnostic, skeptic, cynic, heretic, freethinker, mischief maker, backslider, infidel, pagan, or heathen – Jesus will come back. If you have some view of prophecy or no view at all – Jesus will come back. And at that time God will judge you. Either your judgment will have taken place on Calvary’s cross or your judgment will take place at Christ’s throne. Either your judgment has already been rendered in the past or it awaits judgment in the future. You may think that God won’t judge you. You may think that God can’t judge you. You may make excuses, rationalizations, lie, cheat, or debate the facts, but God will judge you. The judgment that is about to come upon the whole earth may be postponed for another minute or hour or day or month or year, but it will come.