Matthew 25:31-46
Serving those in Need
Have you ever seen that TV show, “Undercover Boss”? It’s when the boss of a large company goes undercover in his or her own business and discovers what’s really going on—for better or for worse—in the company.
While Jesus already knows what’s going on—he knows our hearts, after all—he is kind of like that undercover boss in the TV show. He is secretly watching, hoping to catch us doing good and to surprise us with unexpected praise, but also catching some who do bad and giving them some unexpected results.
Jesus’ story is about judgment day, and he uses an example of sheep and goats. Sometimes shepherds would allow the two to intermingle, and then in the evening—for various reasons—separate them out. Jesus says he—the Son of Man, the King on his throne—will separate out the sheep from the goats in the end times.
Here are three things I want you to consider about this story of divine judgment:
1. People matter.
They do. Everyone matters. There’s an organization called, “Black Lives Matter.” And the title is correct: black lives do matter. Every life matters. Everyone matters. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the ... world.” He’s not talking about the globe. He’s talking about the people on the globe. Like the song goes, “Red, brown, yellow, black, and white, they are precious in his sight.” Everyone matters.
And you see that in Jesus’ story. People who are sick matter. People who are imprisoned matter. People who don’t have enough food or water matter. People who don’t have enough clothes matter. Marginalized people matter. Our church gave $____ to the Food Bank this month because all people matter.
And there is special consideration for other Christians. In verse 40, Jesus refers to them as “my brothers and sisters.” Earlier in the book of Matthew, he identified his true brothers and sisters as “whoever does the will of my Father in heaven” (Matthew 12:50). In today’s story, Jesus isn’t talking about just any person without food or clothes or freedom; he is specifically talking about believers, Christians, his brothers and sisters in the family of God. He spoke to this in another setting when he said, in Matthew 10:42, “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.” The Apostle Paul echoed the theme when he wrote, in Galatians 6:10, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
Do Christians get special consideration because they’re better than other people? No, if we’re honest, we know that is not true. We are all sinners. As Jesus said, “No one is good--except God alone” (Luke 18:19). The bumper sticker captures it well: “Not perfect, just forgiven.” We know that to be true. The better we get to know God, the more we know we need God. The only explanation I can find is that God wants us to treat each other well so that a watching world can see what true community is supposed to be like, so that people get a taste of kingdom life and are drawn to a loving God. Also, helping others works best in the context of relationships, as we truly get to know the needs of the other. It’s harder for me to know what a person on a street corner really needs than it is what my fellow believer needs.
People matter to God, so they should matter to us. People matter. And then #2,
2. Faith works.
Scripture holds in tension these two concepts of faith and works. Paul writes a lot about the centrality of faith. His letter to the Romans inspired Martin Luther 500 years ago to proclaim, “Sola Fide,” or “faith alone.” It is only your faith in God that justifies you, not anything you do to deserve it. The famous evangelist Jonathan Edwards put it this way: “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”
Yet there is a Bible book called James, where James the half-brother of Jesus writes about the importance of doing good works, that if you’re not doing good works for God, maybe you’re not really a Christian. He says, for example, that true religion is taking care of orphans and widows (James 1:27).
So which is it? Faith or works. A mentor of mine said, “It’s both! Faith ... works!” If you have faith, it will work. It will show itself in serving God. True faith is faith in action. As Pastor Jeff Strite puts it, “Good deeds are the fruit of your salvation, not the root of your salvation.”
And that’s what we see in this story. The sheep and the goats have something in common. They’re both surprised—not by where they are consigned for eternity—but for the reason why: because they were or were not serving Jesus. The sheep—true believers—wind up in heaven, not because they are doing good works, but because they had true faith that revealed itself in good works. The goats—truly unsaved people—wind up in hell, not because they ignored people in need, but because they never knew Jesus. They may have called him “Lord” but they really didn’t mean it. And because they never knew Jesus, they never reached out to help Jesus’ brothers and sisters in need.
Pastor Corky Calhoun captures the essence of surprise here when he asks, “What if we were so immersed in humility that it leaked without our even being aware?” The surprise factor takes away any hypocrisy. You’re not helping people to get your name in the bulletin, or to have a plaque on the wall or a brick in the pavement. You’re helping people quietly, behind the scenes, because you love Jesus. Jesus loves people, so you love people. Part of your master’s personality is wearing off on you.
People matter. Faith works. And #3,
3. Christ judges.
You can’t escape it. After all, this is a story of judgment day. Scholars differ about which judgment day. Some think it is at the beginning of the Millennium, Jesus’ thousand-year reign on earth. Others think it is the Great White Throne Judgment. It doesn’t really matter. The principle is the same either way: Christ judges. We will be held accountable for our actions.
But remember, our actions are not what send us to heaven or hell. It is our faith in Jesus alone. It is not what you do, but who you know, and who you know will affect what you do. Your eternal destination really comes down to this: What have you done with Jesus?
There are a couple of interesting things about our eternal destination. First, both possibilities are eternal. Verse 46 uses the same word to describe punishment as it does to describe life. “Eternal” adds up to a long time!
Then notice that hell was not created for humans. Did you know that? Look at what Jesus says to the goats in verse 41: “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” The Greek text here indicates great sorrow behind the words. God never intended humans to go to hell; he designed hell for the devil and his demons. God’s original intent was for all humans to love him freely as God loves them. God doesn’t send people to hell. They send themselves by rejecting God’s unlimited, unconditional love.
Theologian J.P. Moreland describes this biblical image of God when he says, “God is the most generous, loving, wonderful, attractive being in the cosmos. He has made us with free will, and he has made us for a purpose: to relate lovingly to him and to others. We’re not accidents, we’re not modified monkeys, we’re not random mistakes. And if we fail over and over again to live for the purpose for which we were made—a purpose, by the way, that would allow us to flourish more than living any other way would allow—then God will have absolutely no choice but to give us what we’ve asked for all along in our lives: eternal separation from him. And that separation is hell.”
Folks, people matter. They matter to God, and they matter to us. Real faith works. If you’re a believer, you will have a heart for people in need, especially for those in the family of God. And Christ judges. He is our King. And he will reward our faithful obedience in surprisingly wonderful ways, as we quietly follow him and do his will. Let us pray:
On this day proclaimed as “Christ the King Sunday,” we acknowledge you, Jesus, as the King of kings, the Lord of lords, our ultimate boss, our commander-in-chief, and most amazingly, not only our Savior but also our friend. Help us to love people as you do, to serve people as you do. Help us to have giving hearts like yours. Help someone today to enter your family forever and ever, as they turn away from their sin and turn their life control over to you. We ask this all in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
