"blessed To Be A Blessing"

“Blessed to Be a Blessing”

Matthew 25:31-45

I think it is easy to overlook or simply forget just how radical the teachings of Jesus Christ are.

When asked how to enter the Kingdom of God, He instructed a rich young ruler to give away all his money, take up his cross and then come follow Him.

He told us to love our enemies and to pray for those who seek to do us harm.

He instructed us to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile.

He said that the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is the one who takes the lowest position.

And He led by example by washing His disciples’ feet—even the feet of Judas who was about to go out and betray Him into the hands of those who would nail Him to a Cross.

When an expert in the law asked Him, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

He affirmed that we are to Love the God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and love our neighbor as ourselves—that’s what is all boils down to.

And when asked for an example Jesus told a story about a hated Samaritan who helped a Jewish man who had been robbed and left to die in the ditch.

After having been passed by two priests who didn’t help him, the Samaritan, who had a different religion did help.

And Jesus said, “That guy…that Samaritan… was a neighbor to the man who had been in the ditch. Go and do likewise—be like him!”

This is radical stuff.

In a world where we condemn others just because they believe, think differently than we—Jesus tells us—it’s about what you “say you believe” it’s about what you do.

In a day when the religious rulers acted as “moral police” Jesus embraced those whom the religious establishment judged as evil and unclean.

As a matter of fact, one of the main reasons Jesus was killed was because He hung out with and loved the people others judged as the “wrong”—the tax collectors, prostitutes and “sinners”—which would include anyone who broke one of the 613 Laws in the Old Testament.

Yes, Jesus was a radical.

And I’m afraid the Christian Church in America wouldn’t want Him around.

And if He were the preacher—they’d fire Him.

Recently, I put the following on a public Facebook Page as an experiment to gauge the reaction.

***Please Put on Screen***

Then Jesus said unto the sick, “you better have insurance.”

Then Jesus said unto the stranger, “are you here legally?”

Then Jesus said to the hungry, “my taxes better not be paying for these loaves and fishes.”

Then Jesus said unto the poor, “This is your own fault.”

--Of course, the point of this is that these sayings are the exact opposite of what Jesus would say…

…but by the voting preferences and policies we often support it would appear to be the way many of us think.

The post got a lot likes, but also a lot of condemnation and ridicule by people who considered it UNChristian and anti-American.

One person wrote: “Your Church is going to lose a lot of members because of this post.”

It’s interesting that Jesus founded His Church ON these principles: To care for the sick, welcome the immigrant, feed the hungry and take care of the poor.

But this goes so against the grain of this world—and, thus it shines even more light on the fact that we are going to have to go against the way the world thinks if we are to follow Jesus and do the good in the world we are called to do.

In Matthew Chapter 7 ***Please Put on Screen***

Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of Abba God who is in heaven.

Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and, in your name, perform many miracles?’

Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.

Away from me, you evildoers.”

So, this brings us to the question, “What exactly is the will of God in heaven?”

I think we find the will of God for our lives in Matthew 25:31-45, our Gospel Passage for this morning.

Jesus tells us that when He returns for the final judgement “All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

The sheep are gathered on the right side of Christ—the side of approval and honor, and the goats on the left side—for condemnation.

And the criteria for judgement may be astonishing for some of us.