Scripture/Sermon of the Day. November 26, 2023

Matthew 25:31-46

The Judgment of the Nations

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘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 something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You who are accursed, depart from me 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 nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just 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.”

Reflection/Sermon:

I.      Yesterday I watched history being made, the first Black Friday NFL Football Game.  The New York Jets played the Miami Dolphins.  This game was televised by Amazon, also the sponsor now of Thursday Night Football.  As the name “Black Friday” suggests — the football was almost overshadowed by shopping as Amazon filled the programming with irresistible deals from vacuum cleaners to kitchen appliances and specials announced it seemed every few minutes.  Two-thirds of the programming was commercials. 
There was a little public relations segment where the Commissioner of the National Football League, Roger Goodell, presented a check to a group of young people — high school aged — to be used for high-tech equipment - a check for $100,000.00.  Some were so grateful they had tears in their eyes and said how they’d use the gift to improve their lives. 

I thought about this.  First — Jesus said not to announce when we make a gift or give alms.  If we do — our motive is self-interest more than helping others.  I thought about how rich the NFL is — in 2022 they made 18 BILLION DOLLARS.  Just Roger Goddell alone was paid about 130 MILLION DOLLARS for 2021 and 2022 together.  When you look at all that money —$100,000 dollars seems little.  The five minute segment was really a Public Relations commercial.  Which was a bargain for five minutes of prime time TV!

II.     But life is often isn’t what it seems.  That’s why the Bible is filled with passages about God’s judgment.  People do bad things, so God is always having to be the judge and policeman and even executioner.  In today’s reading, God ends up throwing a lot of people in hell. 
The shocking thing is that the ones going to hell were the people who thought they were doing all the right things.  When they were told of God’s judgment, they said,

“We didn’t know!” Jesus. “We didn’t know the immigrants crossing the border were you!  We thought they were drug dealers, criminals and rapists.  We thought they were vermin! We didn’t know it was you!”

III.    That’s what we’ll tell God at the last judgment.  “We didn’t know.  We didn’t know the leaders we chose would separate children from their parents and put people in cages.  You can’t hold us responsible for that — we didn’t know!”  And Jesus will say, “That was me you put in a cage.”  And we’ll say, “Jesus — we didn’t know.  We thought it was just a dirty little Mexican kid.  We thought those people were vermin from Honduras.  Our leader said these people are vermin who poison our blood supply we believed him. We didn’t know it was you! Don’t throw us in hell!!!”

IV.     After Jesus said all this about the Last Judgment, he was arrested and killed.  Later, Jesus’ followers told the executioners and politicians, “That man you crucified was the Son of God — now you’re really in trouble.”  They said, “Why didn’t someone tell us?  We didn’t know!”

V.      Now, when the Son of Man comes in all his glory to judge the living and the dead, people will say,

“We didn’t know we did terrible things.  We didn’t know we arrested and tortured and killed you.  We are sorry.”

 And Jesus, the Son of God, will look at them, and he will look at us and he will say,

“All is forgiven — everyone.  I love you.  Please accept my spirit into your hearts.”  Some of the good people will say, “Why are you giving the goats the same reward as the sheep?  They don’t deserve it!”
And God will say, “I gave you heaven, as I told you I would.  If I choose to give the same to the goats — I can, because heaven is mine, and I can give it to whomever I will.”