Nov 22, 2020  SERMON ARCHIVE

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our heavenly Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, AMEN.

The text for our meditation today is the Gospel Lesson for this Sunday, Matthew 25:31-46. You have that text before you and I will reference it many times in our meditation.

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.”

We begin in the name of Jesus, AMEN

Dear Christian friends, what is the central message within our Gospel reading this morning. Simply this.

You are a sheep. You are a sheep because God has made you a sheep. At your Baptism, God said, "Here I am. Follow me. Be my sheep. I will take care of you for every day of your life, just be my sheep."

And to say you are a sheep is to say that you are a disciple. And to say you are a disciple means that you follow and live by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. That is what Matthew 28:19-20 is all about:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Yes, this is Jesus' command to His Church to make disciples, but it also tells how to make a disciple, and therefore, it tells us what a disciple is.

A disciple is one who is Baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AND a disciple is one who is taught to observe, that is to live or abide in, all things that Christ the Lord has commanded -- in other words, everything God has spoken to us by His Word as recorded in Holy Scripture.

In today's Gospel, Jesus speaks of the day when that kingdom that has already been given to you as an inheritance of faith by His New Testament, will be given to you in full in the flesh.

Between now and that day of His judgment, you live in your Baptism as a child of God by being taught all the things that God has given you in His Word and by living in and according to that Word of God.

From the moment the first drops of water touched your tiny (or not so tiny) head, and God's Word was received through your ears by the proclamation of the Gospel and into your heart by faith, and it will continue until you take your last breath and close your eyelids for the last time, Jesus will be with you and you will be with Him as you follow Him by hearing and receiving all that His Word has to give.

Simply put, in Baptism Jesus became your Good Shepherd and you became His sheep. We read in John 10:4, "And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice."

When you become content with hearing the voice and following the person of your Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, you won't even know that as you follow, you are doing the work of God.

In the 23rd Psalm we have a beautiful picture of the church, the sheepfold of God and His kingdom on earth. For in it the Lord tells us what a sheep does.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; he leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

But Pastor, you protest, that didn't really say anything about what the sheep does, it tells what the Shepherd does.

You are so right, dear Christian. You are so right. For there you have it! Being a Christian is all about the Shepherd. And you are a sheep!

The Lord is your Shepherd. That is who He is and what He does. You are His sheep. Therefore you will never be lacking for any good thing, because He is here being your Shepherd. Jesus will make you lie down in the green pastures of His Word and lead you beside the still waters of His Baptism. You will eat and drink what He has set before you -- because you are a sheep.

Jesus restored your soul by forgiving you your sin, He will lead you in the paths of righteousness by giving you His name and the works He has prepared for you to do. You will be enabled to confess your sins and speak of His wonderful works -- because you are a sheep.

Jesus will comfort you with the rod of His Law and the staff of His Gospel, the means by which the great comforter, the Holy Spirit, brings you to repentance and forgives you all your sin to create faith in you by which you walk through this dying world with Jesus, your Good Shepherd in front, along side and behind your every step - because you are a sheep.

Jesus will prepare the table of His Supper by setting His resurrected body and blood before you so that you can participate in His resurrected life, He will anoint your head with the oil of the Holy Spirit so that you will remain in the faith that receives His gifts to overflowing. You will eat of His body and drink of His blood to give strength to your weak and dying flesh, you will receive His Holy Spirit to give comfort to your flagging spirit, and you receive life - because you are a sheep.

The goodness and mercy of Jesus, the Son of God and your Good Shepherd will follow you every day of your life as His Holy Spirit pursues you with His Word. And you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever as Jesus dwells with you by the Baptism He has placed upon you and the body and blood He has placed within you. You will live in the presence of God and have a seat in His heavenly kingdom even now - because you are a sheep.

Pity those poor goats. The goats on Jesus left have none of this because they are not sheep. They think they have done many good things, yet they have not taken in Christ and did not recognize Him as the Son of God and their Savior because they did not listen to the voice of the Shepherd. The goats are always wanting because they have and desire no shepherd.

Goats do not lie down and feed in green pastures of God's Word or drink of the quiet waters of Baptism because they are busy climbing mountains, eating and drinking whatever garbage they come across. But you are not a goat.

Goats do not have their sins forgiven or walk in the paths of righteousness because they are too busy enjoying their sin and pretending to be righteous. You are not a goat.

Goats do not have any comfort and are constantly driven by fear because they are too busy trying to ignore, cheat or beat death and have no desire to hear what God would have them do or what He has done for them, they only want to tell what they want God to do for them or somehow prove what they can do for God. You are not a goat.

Goats do not eat at the table of the Lord and their cups are perpetually empty because they are too busy fighting with God spilling their cups as they climb their mountains and fight their battles. You are not a goat.

Goodness and mercy does not follow goats and goats do not dwell in the house of the Lord now, or ever, because they are too busy chasing evil, following their own desires, and trying to build their own mansions. You are not a goat.

No, dear Christian friends, you are not a goat.

You are a sheep. You are baptized into the One true faith. You hear God's precious Word proclaimed for the forgiveness of your sin. You eat of His body and drink of His blood.

By these very things you have the gift of His Holy Spirit, the salvation of your souls, the presence of your Savior, you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, and you are among those at his right hand who will most certainly hear Christ Jesus, your King say, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world!"

Dear Christian, this is the Gospel of the Lord and you cannot hear it too often...

You are a sheep!

Christ is risen.