In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
Last week I noted in passing the idea that the Church is hidden. This was one of my favorite things from reading Luther – this idea, this focus that the reality, the fullness of our lives as Christians right now is hidden. It will be revealed, there will be the great Revelation – that's why the book is called Revelation – but right now there are profound realities of who we are in Christ Jesus that just aren't obvious, that we do not see. And there is no story that Jesus tells that teaches this more clearly than our Gospel lesson today – the Sheep and the Goats. This is the last bit of teaching we hear in Matthew's Gospel – after this it's on to our Lord's Passion. And so we ought listen to what our Lord wishes to tell us about what we do not see now but at the last day will see and understand.
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. When. At some point in the future, this is what Jesus will do. He will come back, and then it will be obvious who He is. During His earthly ministry people didn't get to see Jesus in His glory – they saw a poor working man from the sticks. They didn't recognize God Almighty – they saw a guy whipped and beaten and dying on a cross. But come the Last Day – who Jesus is will be fully and totally revealed, and there will be no confusion, no doubt, no hemming and hawing about it. Jesus will come fully revealed as God and Savior, and He will do His thing. He will separate the sheep and the goats, He will judge the living and the dead. It's Judgment Day.
But it's not Judgment Day as we sadly often think of it. It's not a Judgment Day where Jesus pulls out the laundry list of complaints to nag us with – it's not going to be, “oh no, I was out too late with the boys, boy am I gonna get it when I get home.” “Oh no, when he sees how much this dress cost, he's going to flip out.” No, it's not like that at all. Not for you, O Christian. Listen. And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. 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. For 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.” Oh, there's a list alright, but it's a giant list of praise. Come – get on over here, how great that you're finally here. Look at this, the Kingdom is yours, it's so awesome that you're here because you've done so much and the Kingdom of God will be better with you in it.
That's Judgment Day for you O Christian. Not an angry judge combing through the fine print looking to throw the book at you. No, it's Jesus literally praising you to High Heaven. You made the world better, you'll fit in heaven. Look at all that you did. And here's where it is important to note the reaction of the Sheep, what your reaction and my reaction will become come Judgment Day (even though we've heard the story). Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry...” And it's actually humorous – what's being described is not a well reasoned response from the sheep, but just a torrent of words spilling out in wonder – a dumbfounded blathering. All this stuff You said we did for You and to You, what are You talking about Jesus? And then, the revealing of the Mystery – And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.”
Jesus says, “Yes, I know I am literally praising you to high heaven, but stop trying to find grand things that you've done. The good works I've given you in your life aren't Super-hero works. It's not the leaping over tall buildings I'm praising here – it's the simplest things, the things done to the least of My brothers.” And this is the reality. Any of y'all changed a diaper – well done good and faithful servant, for in so doing, in that little bit of your normal, humdrum life, you have served Christ Jesus. This is the mystery of Good Works, and why frankly we shouldn't be trying to judge our works. We don't understand good any more – that's part of the Fall. Adam and Eve ate the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, and ever since then we think we know better than God what is good. Our understanding of good is warped. We think of good works as extra credit works, or medals that we would win for going above and beyond the call of duty. No, that's not how God uses the word good.
Again, consider creation. God creates, and things do simply what they are supposed to do. Trees grow. Birds fly. Cows eat grass and go mooo. And it was good. Good is simply being what God has created something to be. It's not super crazy awesome – it's the simple things. God delights in the simple things of your life. You are a forgiven, redeemed child of God – your sins are taken away, they aren't yours anymore. God doesn't see them on you, He sees them on Christ on the Cross well and thoroughly done away with. So all that is left is your simple, everyday life, simply you doing all those normal things. Cooking. Cleaning. Helping out at work. A diaper. Laughing with a friend. Crying with a friend. All of these simple things that fly by in our life without nary a second thought – God sees all of these and He is pleased to bits, He is delighted by it. Because you're living, living in faith, and He created you to live. Those are your works, and Jesus calls them good.
But right now, we don't see this, we don't see the fullness of this truth – and that's a good thing for us, because in our sinfulness we will mess things up, we will miss understand. We can ponder works, and we can think that they earn us something, that they merit us something. We want to boast in them, instead of seeing and understanding that our works are given to us as a gift from God. I make a sandwich for my son – sure that's a good work, but it's a gift to me. I have a son to make a sandwich for – and quite of a few of you here can think back a little bit wistfully on those days with your kids. It's a gift. Or what about this – I preach a sermon. I get to be your pastor, what a gift. You come to church – what a good work. Yes, but what a gift, that you were able to be here today, to receive forgiveness, to sing with the people of God. It's not that we do stuff and then earn things from God – it's that God gives us good gifts and we walk in them, we live in them, and it is really and truly good – good in a way that is too deep and too high and too profound for us to fully grasp in this life, for us to understand while we still struggle against sin in this life. But that's the truth, that's the reality of you who you are in Christ Jesus. You are a forgiven redeemed child of God, and you cannot comprehend just how delighted with you God is, how thoroughly Jesus loves you. Jesus loves me, this I know... but we only know it in part – come the last day we get the mind blowing fullness of what that looks like.
Now a word on the goats. There is condemnation, off to hell with you jerks, because you always treated Me like dirt. The goats are confused, when did we do this to You, surely if we saw You we wouldn't have. Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me. Just as good works are hidden, sin is hidden – we don't understand sin, we don't understand the profundity of our sin – that our sin is always against God. And so we simply confess our sin, the sin we know and the sins we aren't aware of. We don't know all of our own wickedness. And frankly, we don't need to, lest we become overly terrified and paralyzed. The thing that separates the sheep and the goats isn't some level of sin – the difference is this. The sin of the sheep is taken away, is taken up by Christ. The Sheep are absolved, their sin is cleansed off of them and taken away by Christ. But have sympathy for people who sin against you. They literally know not what they do, they don't get the full implication of what's going on. Many times they don't have a clue as to what they've done, but even if they are trying to sin against you, trying to hurt you – oh, they don't really know, they don't aren't thinking of how they are sinning against God. This is why we live in the forgiveness of Christ Jesus, we live receiving Christ's forgiveness and giving out Christ's forgiveness... because we have an idea of how wretched sin is, and no one should have to live with that.
So live in forgiveness, O sheep. Live as one who is richly and fully forgiven by Christ Jesus. Because this is the truth, the reality, that you are a Baptized, forgiven child of God, someone who has been called out of darkness into God's marvelous light, someone prepared to inherit the kingdom of heaven. You might not always see this, and you certainly won't see the fullness and true wonder of this – we're always just going to be a bit clueless in our earthly days. But Christ Jesus has won you life and salvation, and He gives you every blessing of body and soul. He has taken away your sin and filled you with His own righteousness. He sees this, the Father sees this, and God delights in you, His forgiven child. Fear not the judgment; all it means is that you will know God's love for you more fully than ever before. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
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