Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text for today’s meditation is the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 25:31

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² 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. ³³ And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ 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. ³⁵ 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, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' ⁴⁰ 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.' ⁴¹ "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' ⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, saying, '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.' ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."(Mat 25:31 ESV)

This is the shortest sermon I will ever preach because the text is so straight forward. I hope the thanksgiving meal will be ready early, we will be done soon. Everything you need is right there and it means what it says. On the last day Jesus will return and collect His flock of sheep and take them to an eternal kingdom prepared for them. The goats will go to hell for eternal punishment. The sheep are God’s elect, you are God’s elect and the goats are not.

Amen

It really is that simple but let’s talk a little more about it. Jesus will come back one day to separate those that know His voice and those that do not. In Jesus day the type of goat they had wasn’t like the goats Mike Banzhoff has. He has white, tan, and brown goats, back then they had a type that was pure black. Imagine separating the sheep from the goats. First of all, it sure isn’t hard to see the difference between a sheep and a goat; second of all you could spot a black goat very easily among the white sheep. That is how easy and final it will be when Jesus comes back on judgment day. He will be able to take one look at you and know if it is the eternal kingdom or eternal punishment in hell; there will be no rebuttals or objections, no appeals to a higher court. His ruling is swift, clear, and final.

Now, why does He choose the sheep over the goats? He says they fed Him, gave him drink, welcomed Him, clothed Him, and they visited Him while He was sick and in prison. If we stop right there, and if this was the only teaching we had of Jesus, we would know that the way to heaven and our salvation was through our good works, or works righteousness. But this isn’t the only teaching we have of Jesus and we know that the way to salvation is through faith in God’s grace and His

mercy to forgive our sins through the death and resurrection of Jesus christ. So, why is there so much emphasis placed on our works in this parable? Let’s turn back to the book of James again. James 2:14-8 "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? ¹⁷ So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. ¹⁸ But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." (Jam 2:14 ESV) The emphasis is placed on works because it is what God expects of His elect, His elect… Earlier I said you are the elect, how were you elected? It is through your baptism that God elected you through the water and the word, the Holy Spirit entered you and claimed you as one of the elect. The good Shepherd spoke directly to your heart so that you would recognize His voice. You can stand in confidence that you are the elect, you are sheep. Sheep are sheep, they do sheep things. They are not sheep because they do sheep things; they do sheep things because they are sheep. God made them sheep, and as a result they do sheep things. Elect are elect, they do things the elect do like the things Jesus describes because they are elect. They are not elect because they do elect things; they do elect things because they are elect. God chose them and made them elect and as a result they do elect things. You are not judged on your works but you are expected to act like the elect.

Did you notice the sheep did not see Jesus as the recipient of their works? They were oblivious to the presence of Jesus, they were just doing things for their neighbor not for Jesus. They were so oblivious to the connection between their deeds of service and their relationship to God through faith that it had to be spelled out to them. Notice the goats were oblivious as well but they use it as an excuse. When we do good works, even the smallest of them, we are doing them for our neighbor because they have a need, not because we are "serving Jesus." We are being Christ to the neighbor not us serving Christ in the neighbor. We give out water at first Monday because there are people that are thirsty and need water. We are not serving Jesus and we do not serve because we perceive Jesus standing over the neighbor’s shoulder, we are serving our neighbor just as Jesus commanded us in Matt 22:36-40,"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" ³⁷ And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." (Mat 22:36 ESV) We are doing sheep things because we are sheep. Sheep are very social creatures, and they take care of their neighbors.

As sheep, there is no room for complacency or apathy excused by misapplied or misunderstood gospel. When I think of apathy I think of Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh. I’ll read one of his quotes "I might have known," said Eeyore. "After all, one can't complain. I have my friends. Somebody spoke to me only yesterday. And was it last week or the week before that Rabbit bumped into me and said 'Bother!'. The Social Round. Always something going on." Eeyore is so caught up in his own world he hasn’t ventured out to see what His neighbors need, He doesn’t go say hi to them, instead waits around for others to come to him. Get up and find out what your neighbors need, help them. Even the smallest deed is recognized by our Lord. Take comfort that He sees everything we do for our neighbor; none of the acts are wasted and they do matter to Jesus.

This time it is for real, Amen