LAST SUNDAY OF THE CHURCH YEAR – Nov. 22, 2020 – Matt. 25:31-46
“THE VINDICATION OF GOD – THE LAST DAY”
Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text for this, the Last Sunday of the Church Year, is the Gospel Lesson just read, from Matthew 25. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- You may have had an experience like this – where you set out for a new experience and you assumed that you would be making choices and decisions but everything was different once you arrived. Perhaps it was wedding, where at the reception there was assigned seating for everyone. You had no choice as to where you would sitting. Or you showed up for a workout and you were immediately directed to join a group. You are forced to do what everyone else in your group is doing.
- It is a bit unnerving to have your autonomy and freedom taken away and you end up in a line like everyone else. You might even have the temptation to just “bolt” out of there! The experience is so different than what you expected that you might comment “This is not what I signed up for.”
- If we look carefully at our text for this morning – which describes the most consequential experience that every human being will ever experience, we can see that the Last Day will very much be one of these experiences. We may assume that we are going to arrive on our own, pick and choose where we will stand, and that we will have opportunity to present our case to God on Judgment Day.
- According to Jesus – and He is the glorious King, sitting on His throne of glory, before Whom all will appear on that day – it will all be quite different than what we likely are thinking! In fact, the focus of “Judgment Day” will be different from what we likely assume.
- Most people think “Judgment Day” is the day when people will be judged. In this view, some are judged worthy of eternal life, and some are judged as deserving hell, and remanded there. Interestingly enough, according to Jesus it is actually God – Who human beings feel compelled to judge on many occasions in our life in this world – Who will be “judged” and vindicated for how He conducted human history following man’s fall into sin.
- Please note that:
I. When Jesus Arrives In His Great Glory The Judgment Of Mankind Is Already Completed. It Is Announced, Or Made Visible, On That Day
Text: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left.”
A. The Two Groups Are Separated By Christ Without A Word
Text: “He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left.”
B. All People Will Already Have Been Judged By The Word Jesus Has Spoken
John 12:47,48 “If anyone hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects Me and does not receive My words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”
John 3:36 “He that believes the Son has everlasting life; but he that does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Statement: So, no one will get to choose which line to get in, and which group to be a part of. On that day, the assignments will have already been made. You will be placed into the appropriate group – either the group containing believers in Christ, or the group containing those who have rejected Christ in unbelief.
Note also that no one is granted opportunity to debate their assignment, or to argue with God, with the King. They simply are placed.
Application: We are told this ahead of time, so that we are not surprised at what takes place, with what is happening to us. All of this is to be taken care of here and now – so that on the Last Day we are where we want to be. Jesus’ Word is simple and straightforward. It is Good News, the Gospel, that Jesus is the Lamb of God Who has taken away the sin and guilt of the world. Whoever believes this Word has eternal life. He/she believes in Jesus! Whoever does not believe this Word of Jesus “will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” That is resolved here and now – with astonishing consequences!
Transition: So if the “judging” that takes place on Judgment Day is not directed at us, then Who is being “judged” on that day? Remarkably:
II. The Fruits Of Believers And The Fruit Of Unbelievers Is Compared And Contrasted – So That The Transforming Effect And Power Of God’s Love And Salvation Are On Full Display, And Vindicate God
Text: “The King will say to those on His right . . . I was hungry and you gave Me food. I was thirsty and you gave Me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed Me. I was naked and you clothed Me. I was sick and you visited Me. I was in prison and you came to Me. . . . As you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me. . . . Then He will say to those on His left . . I was hungry and you gave Me no food. I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome Me. I was naked and you did not clothe Me. I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me. . . . As you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.”
Statement: Those who live in God’s love are transformed by that love – so that we grow at loving each other as Christ has loved us. As Scripture asserts: “We love because He first loved us.” [1 John 4:19] That experience of God’s transforming love centers in the cross of Jesus Christ, the redemption that God provided for us. It is as Jesus once stated: “I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven – for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” [Lk. 7:47]
Application: So the key – and the very beginning of our having eternal life and producing the fruits of faith – is to heed the Word of Jesus Who calls us to repent [to confess and sorrow over our sins] and to believe the Good News, that our sins are forgiven and that we have been restored to peace with God!
All of this happens here and now – but it determines what our experience will be on Judgment Day. And so it is that God is vindicated on Judgment Day – everyone sees and acknowledges that the Gospel, which God wants all to receive, produces true and genuine good works of love, compassion, kindness and goodness.
Transition: And so there is no complaint either about the destinies announced, even though:
III. Disparate Outcomes Are Imposed On The Two Groups
A. Believers Are Directed To Heaven – Prepared For Them From The Foundation Of The World
Text: “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’”
B. Unbelievers Are Directed To Hell – Which Was Not God’s Will For Them, He Wills All To Be Saved – Which Was Prepared Only For The Devil And His Angels
Text: “The He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”
Statement: So, if you are a believer, you are blessed by the Father. Your place in the kingdom has been prepared for you from the very beginning. You know that all credit, all honor and glory, belongs to God for saving us. Our faith is also His gift. Unbelievers were invited into this same kingdom – but they refused. They refused God’s love and salvation. They refuse renewed fellowship with God. They want nothing to do with Him, and so they effectively demand that He send them to hell. This is any amazing thing, that anyone could reject God and His great love!
Application: So let us give thanks and praise to God – that He has brought us to faith, and into His Kingdom, and has made us a part of His great cosmic vindication! And as we await that great day, let us continue in faith and repentance, being fed day by day with God’s Word and His Sacrament – for “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” [Rom. 10:17] And let us allow God’s love and His Word to move us to care for the hungry, thirsty, the strangers, the naked, those who are sick and those imprisoned. These acts of love, in response to God’s love for us in Christ Jesus, vindicate God for His patience with humanity all these years and for His plan of salvation!
Conclusion: For believers, Judgment Day is nothing to be afraid of. Our actions, reactions, thoughts and feelings will not be under scrutiny. We will be in the hand and power of the glorious King, our precious Savior Jesus!
He will lead all things, and dictate all things, and nothing will be able to deter Him! Although we will not be in charge, and will not be autonomous or self-determining, we will be most richly blessed by God! And nothing will give us greater joy than to affirm, and to be the evidence of, God’s great cosmic vindication.
There will be no more blasphemy against God, no more judging of God, no more back-talk or sass. We will rejoice in this. Even now we are waiting for it. Thanks and praise be to God, Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.