Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year: "Sheep and Goats"

 + Last Sunday of the Church Year  - November 26, 2023+

Series A: Ezekiel 34:11-24, 1 Corinthians 15:20-28, Matthew 25:31-46

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Anytime you’re on social media you’ll see these links to click…take this quiz and find out what Disney princess you are, or what Marvel superhero you are like. We do the same thing when we read stories or watch movies…we find a way to imagine ourselves in the story. 

 

When we hear Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats, as we did today on this Last Sunday of the Church year, I would guess many of us have that question in mind. We try and find ourselves in this parable of Jesus. Where am I in this story? Who am I, a sheep or a goat?

 

We’ve been hearing and singing about the Last Day these past several Sundays. We know that we’ve been living in the last days since Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection for us. We know his return is promised in Scripture. We confess in the Creed that we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

 

Still we hear Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25 and we wonder. Who am I?  So let’s take a closer look at Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats and see what our Lord has to say.

 

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

 

Before we even get to the separation or the judgment, there’s the resurrection of the body. It’s quite the scene Jesus paints here. The dead are raised. The living have put on immortality. One of my pastor friends served at a church that had a cemetery, and he would often say, if I am alive when Christ returns I hope I’m sitting right here on the steps overlooking the cemetery as the saints rise from the dead. 

 

The Last Day, Jesus says, is a day of revealing. And first he reveals who he is. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He’s not simply the Savior of some but the Savior of the world. He is not simply the Good Shepherd of a select few but of the inclusive many. In His flesh, He embodies all, just as Adam embodied all into disobedience and death. When Adam fell, we all fell, and were born fallen in Adam’s fall. But Christ in His humanity is the second Adam, Adam 2.0, Adam set right before God. In the first Adam, you die, in the second Adam you live. In the first Adam you are condemned, in the second Adam you are justified and forgiven.

 

Then comes the separation. But notice something important. Jesus separates the sheep and the goats not on the basis of what they have done or not done, but rather who or what they are, sheep or goats.

 

The sheep are called “the righteous.” Counted. Reckoned. Declared. Covered in the righteousness blood of Christ the Passover Lamb. They’re placed on Jesus’ right, the place of honor. And their works are judged, it’s true. But they’re not judged by their works – but by Jesus’ works - his perfect life, his perfect death. The talk about works comes after the separation. First, Jesus blesses. “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” 

 

Then there’s another surprise. Jesus reveals that he was hidden all along in the lives of his people. The phone call to a brother or sister in Christ who was sick, the clothing you gave, the food you brought when there was a death or illness in the family. Small, hidden, ordinary things…but that’s where Jesus hides himself.  “I was hungry and you fed me; thirsty and you gave me drink; a stranger and you welcomed me; naked and clothed me; sick and you visited me; in prison and you came to me.” 

 

The sheep are astonished. “When Lord? When did we see you hungry, thirsty, naked or in prison?” They had no idea that Jesus was hidden in the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner. “As you did these things for the least of these my brothers you did it to me.” 

 

Again, it’s not about what they do but who they are. They simply did what needed to be done. Sheep don’t count what they’ve done. They don’t need to. Jesus has already counted them righteous, blessed by what he has done for them

 

Then there are the goats. Those on Jesus’ left. No inheritance. No blessing. Only dismissal. “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Notice that hell isn’t made for you or any human being; it’s for the devil and his minions. God’s will is that all would be saved in Jesus, that goats become sheep through the Lamb. 

 

The goats are surprised as well, but for a different reason. They were keeping track of all their good deeds.  They are as ignorant of their sin as the sheep were of their good works.  When confronted with their sin they do the faithless thing - try to justify themselves. “When did we see you hungry, thirsty, naked, a stranger, and did not help you? If we had only known we could have kept a record.”

 

This is why, in his book The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis says that in the end, there are those who say to God, Thy will be done – as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer. And there are also those to whom God says, thy will be done. Those who wanted nothing to do with Jesus the Shepherd get not what they deserve but what they desire. Ok, have it your way.

 

So we come again to the question of the day. Who am I? When we look at ourselves in the revealing light of God’s Law, all we see is the face of a stinking, stubborn goat staring right back at us. Apart from Christ, outside of Jesus, that’s who we were. Lost and condemned creatures. Poor miserable sinners. Natural born goats.

 

But there’s another way to see yourself, to answer that question, who am I? It’s true that in Adam we are all goats, but in Christ you are made sheep. Dead in Adam. Alive in Christ. You are covered by the blood of the Lamb. After all, sheep don’t follow themselves; they look to their Shepherd. In Christ you are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his loving, pierced hands.

 

When Jesus tells this parable, remember that He who is the King and the Judge is also your Good Shepherd. “Behold I, I myself will search for my flock and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so I will seek out my sheep and I will rescue them…” 

 

What kind of shepherd thinks that the life of his sheep is more important than his own? What kind of shepherd, to save his sheep from being devoured, would throw his body between the sheep and the wolf? What kind of shepherd loves the least of his brothers so much that he would hang hungry, starved and naked as a prisoner in our sin and death?

 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, there is only one who has done all this for you, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away your sin. All of it. As he prayed to the Father in Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion, his sacrifice for you, he prayed, “Thy Will be done.” 

 

 “I am your Good Shepherd,” Jesus says “I know my sheep by name and I lead them out. For you who are hungry, I will feed you with my own body; take, eat. For you who are thirsty, I have thirsted on the cross; take drink, this is my blood poured out with forgiveness on your sin parched lips. Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world. You are no longer strangers here. You are no longer a goat. You have been set free from that pen. Your naked guilt is covered by pure Lamb’s wool, dipped in blood. And all that was once was scarlet is now white as snow.”

 

Who am I? Who are you? Christ our Lord tells you exactly who you are. Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. You are his declared righteous, redeemed, rescued sheep. You are baptized and embraced forever in the arms of Jesus. That’s who you are now and forever.

 

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 25: "The Parable of the Generous Master"

 + 25^th Sunday after Pentecost – November 19^th, 2023 +

Series A: Zephaniah 1:7-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Before you pick up a new book or choose a show to watch, one of the first questions that often comes to mind is, “what’s this story about?”

We ask the same question when it comes to hearing and reading Jesus’ parables. What is this about?

Today as we hear another parable of Jesus from Matthew 25 that question is, no doubt, in our minds once again. If you only read the heading in your bible or skimmed the parable you might think it was about talents or coins. When you look at the other parables and teaching of Jesus in Matthew 24 and 25 you might think this is a parable about the end times, and it certainly is that. But mostly, like almost all of the parables, this story is about the Master. It’s about Jesus. It’s a story that reveals the kind of God he is…not a God we need fear in terror of judgment when he returns in glory, but one who is gracious, giving, trusting, and faithful. 

What is this story about? It’s a story that reveals the kind of God you have in Christ Jesus. 

Jesus begins the parable this way… There was a rich master who entrusted his wealth to three servants. To one five, to another two, and to a third one. They’re called talents…a word we use for something else (skill, ability, etc.). But in the parable, think of it as a coin or something similar. A talent was about 20 years’ wages. No small amount. But notice how the Master gives, he does so personally…to each according to his ability. And then, the master goes away. The first two servants double the amount given to them. But the third one dug a hole in the ground and hid it.

After a long while, Jesus goes on, the master returns to settle accounts. In Jesus’ parables, this is often the way he speaks about The Last Day. The day when the books are opened and the accounts are settled. The two who turned a profit are praised with a hearty “Well done” and get to share in the joy of their Master. The third is condemned to outer darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth.

A quick reading of the parable makes it sound like this story is about God’s concern with the servant who has not invested God’s money. The first two servants invested His gifts. They brought Him both His money and a good return. The third servant buried God’s gifts and, therefore, has nothing more to share with God than what God originally gave him. “Here, you have what is yours” (verse 25). At first, we might read this and come away thinking that the parable reveals God to be a hard taskmaster about nothing more than profits and returns.

Yet, upon closer reading, that is not what this story is about. Investments and returns are considered something “little” to God (verses 21 and 23). God graciously gives these servants more and invites them to share in His joy. 

In the kingdom of God, the main character of the story isn’t you or me, it’s Christ. And in the kingdom of God, the story rests not on our works but Christ’s. In the kingdom of God, Jesus draws our attention to the kind of God he is. 

And that’s the source of conflict in Jesus’ parable. Pay close attention to how the third servant views his master. Why is he judged in the story? It’s not so much about what he did or didn’t do, but about how he saw or thought about his master…about the kind of God he thought the master was.

Listen to what he says, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 

This last servant sees the master as many see God: one who is hard, demanding, ungracious, and needs to be placated and feared. This third servant’s issue is that He doesn’t think God is good and the giver of gifts. This is why the third servant is called wicked, because he does not know the master rightly. In other words, he is wicked because he thinks of the master (God) not as good and gracious and giving, but as cruel and demanding. To him, God is not a giver, but a taker, a hard, cruel taskmaster. He makes demands but offers no help.

 

But this is not what the story is about. This is not the kind of God Jesus reveals, in this parable, or in his life and ministry. When you look at the opening of the parable, what kind of master do you see? Is the master harsh or demanding? Reaping where he did not sow? No. 

The parable reveals that God, the master, is just the opposite of that. He is good, gracious, generous and trusting. God gives various gifts to His servants, and He does so because He trusts they are able to use them. Jesus’ parable reveals a loving relationship of a God who gives and trusts us to use what he gives. The Master – Jesus – delights in giving. And the joy of the master is even seen in giving more. That’s his character. That’s who he is. 

When we approach this parable wondering - am I the servant he gave 5 talents to, or 2, or 1? Have I buried his gifts and possessions he’s given me? – we’ve approached the parable asking the wrong questions. It’s not a story about who you are as much as it is about who the Master is, and then who you are in relationship to him. This story is about Jesus our Master.

Remember the question that we began with. What is this story about? It’s a story that reveals the kind of God you have in Christ Jesus. In Jesus, you do not have the kind of God the third servant thought of, one who is cruel, hard, demanding. Rather, in Jesus, you have the God who is good and gracious and generous with his gifts to you. He gives you life and salvation in Jesus. He gives you gifts, abilities, the wealth of daily bread and the many and various abilities he gives to each of you, trusting you to use it for your good and the good of those around you. 

Do we fail at those callings in life? Yes. Do we always live up to our Father’s trust? No. But your faith rests not on what you have done or left undone, but on what Jesus has done for you. Your faith, like the faith of the first two servants, rests not on your coin and what you’ve done with it, but on the faithfulness of your Master Jesus. 

You are, as St. Paul says, not children of the darkness, but children of light. You are children of the day. You are beloved, baptized, redeemed, and forgiven. You belong to Jesus, the good and gracious and merciful Master. You are his servants, each with your own God-given gifts. Your God is Jesus. Your God is good and gracious and kind. You have the God who took a fisherman and made him a disciple. You have the God who took a tax collector and made him a Gospel writer. You have the God who took all our sin and failures and unfaithfulness and all our fears, doubts, worries, and death itself and he made all of that his own, making saints out of sinners. You have the God who was crucified for you, dead and buried for you. You have the God who was judged in your place so that when he comes again to judge the living and the dead, the verdict he gives you is the same he gave to the servants: “come, enter into the joy of your master.” You have the God who has destined you not for wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as you live in these last days. As you wait for Christ’s return. As you use the gifts God has given and entrusted to you, this is the kind of God you have…the God who holds you in his goodness and grace in Christ Jesus. 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon for Pentecost 24: "The Bridegroom Comes"

 + 24^th Sunday after Pentecost – November 12^th, 2023 +

Series A: Amos 5:18-24; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Whenever we turn the calendar to November, it seems as though a lot of events change with it. The clocks turn back. The weather takes a turn: rain and leaves are falling. The days are colder. Nights longer. You turn on the lights and the coffee pot earlier, more frequently.

In our Lord’s house, the church calendar and Scripture readings have taken a turn as well. Last week we celebrated All Saints’ Day. This week, and for the last weeks of November, the prayers, hymns and Scripture readings turn our attention to the End Times, the Last Day, to the day of Christ’s promised and glorious return.

For many, both in and out of the church, the end times tends to get rather sensationalized. You may even have said or thought to yourself in recent weeks, it sure feels like the end is near. Wars in Russia and Ukraine and Israel. Disasters. Tragedies. Persecutions. Plagues. Wickedness run amuck. If it feels like we’re living in the Last Days, that’s because we are. And we have been since Jesus’ death and resurrection. Today is one day closer to our Lord’s return.

 

When Jesus teaches us about the Last Day and his second coming, he does so not to create hype or hysteria, but to give us hope. For you who are in Christ crucified, that day is a day of joy, and we pray for it…come quickly, Lord Jesus. In readings like today’s from Matthew 25, our Lord prepares us to live not in fear but by faith in his promises.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus’ teaching has taken a turn as well. At the end of today’s parable he says, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

To prepare us for his coming again, Jesus tells us a parable. 

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps^[a] and went to meet the bridegroom.^{[b] 2} Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³ For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 

Lamps and oil are common in the Scriptures. God’s word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path, the Psalms remind us. Oil is used for healing, gladness, joy, and anointing; it is a gift that is given that marks you as one who belongs to God. Important details to remember later.

As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. ⁶ But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. ¹¹ Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹² But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 

Hearing Jesus’ parable of the wise and foolish virgins, we might be tempted to try and figure out which bridesmaid we are. To do that, we look at our jars of oil. Do we have enough? Have we done enough, loved enough, cared enough, been faithful enough? And when we look at ourselves and ask that question the answer is always going to be the same. No, I haven’t done enough. I don’t have enough. I’m not prepared enough. I am not enough. 

In Christ, your Bridegroom, the answer is always yes. In his death and resurrection for you there is always enough, more than enough. His body and blood overflowing with forgiveness. His word to be a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. His forgiveness sustains you and keeps you in. Jesus’ word and promise are enough. 

Rather than ask what kind bridesmaid we are, Jesus invites us to see the kind of bridegroom He is. He is the Bridegroom whose love will never grow weary, whose promise will always hold true. He loves us and is coming to meet us. Jesus your Bridegroom is coming with unquenchable love. Yes, the Bridegroom has been delayed, but He has not forgotten you His bride. The Bridegroom has been slow in coming, but His love for you has not declined. His grace will not run out for he is with you always. The Bridegroom has a steadfast love, and He will come with joy to gather you His people into an eternal celebration in His Kingdom.

The more we look at the Bridegroom, the more God assures us that His love is eternal, that Christ’s death and resurrection for you, Christ’s word and promise for you, Christ’s anointing of you in water and word is more than enough to prepare you for the day of his coming, and enough to keep you in Christ until that day. 

How do we prepare and wait and watch for Jesus the coming Bridegroom? We’re doing that right now this morning. You are in his house. At his feet. Hearing his word. Receiving his gifts. You do this when the light of his word fills your homes and family time as well. To be well prepared for Christ’s coming is to realize and rejoice that we have nothing of our own to cling to…but Christ the bridegroom.

When Christ returns…it is not for judgment – that’s already been done. Jesus the bridegroom was judged on the cross for you. At midnight comes the cry: Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.

As the church calendar turns to these last Sundays of the church year, our Lord turns our eyes and ears, hearts and minds to our Lord’s return, we welcome and wait and watch for that day, knowing that when Jesus returns, he comes as your bridegroom.

He shines the light of his word into your ears creating, sustaining, and strengthening your faith in these last days. He has poured out the holy oil of water and word and the Spirit and marked you as his own; today and every day from now into eternity, you belong to him.

Jesus your Bridegroom is here. Come to meet him who meets you in this place with forgiveness. Pardon. Peace.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Sermon for All Saints' Day: "A Certain Hope"

 + All Saints’ Day (observed) – November 5^th, 2023 +

Rev. 7:9-17; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12

Beautiful Savior Lutheran 

Milton, WA

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul writes…we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

In the musical world they call this a mashup. Two seemingly different songs put together to create a new song. Paul’s words give us an All Saints’ Day mashup. There is grief, and hope. There is sadness, and joy in Christ’s salvation. There are tears, and the presence of Christ who promises to wipe away all tears.

Today is a collision of sorts. We remember our brothers and sisters in Christ who have died in the faith, whether it was last week, last month, last year or the years before that. To be sure, there is grief. The memory of departed friends, family, and dear brothers or sisters in Christ. The poignant hymn that floods our eyes with tears. The sting of death. But that is not all there is on All Saints’ Day. Today our Lord gives us good news in our grief… Those who have died in the faith are safe in the presence of Jesus, just as you are.

You are all the blessed ones of the beatitudes – not because we have any righteousness of our own or any leg to stand on – but because of Christ’s righteousness that covers all our sin. That is what it means to be poor of spirit – to see that any righteousness and goodness and holiness isn’t found in us, but in Christ for you. Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called children of God; and so you are.

All Saints’ Day is a day where we rejoice that God has given us a new song to sing, a holy mashup of his mercy and grace…out of sorrow, he works joy. Out of death he brings life. In our grief he gives us hope. Out of sinners he makes saints, holy ones. You. Me. And all the faithful departed we remember today.

All saints those who have gone before us and await the resurrection of the body, and all of us here – the saints on earth – we are not self-made saints. You are a saint through the sacrifice of Christ. Saints is really just another word for sinners forgiven by Jesus.

That is one why our Lord brings us here Sunday after Sunday…because here God gives us something we cannot and will not find in the world around us nor within us. In this life there is no shortage of grief, guilt, shame, sorrow, despair, and death. Grief seems to follow us around like a hound hot on the scent. We grieve a world that appears inching towards war. We grieve relationships that are strained or broken. We grieve our failing bodies and minds. We grieve our own guilt and shame over what we’ve done or left undone. Said or left unsaid. In this life, grief and guilt and sorrow and shame are easy to come by. Hope is hard to find. 

The good news of All Saints’ Day is not that you find hope, but that hope finds you. Christ comes to rescue. Christ answers our grief with hope. 

And this is not the kind of hope we usually think of…not like a child standing by the window, “I hope tomorrow is a snow day.” No. Christian hope is different. Not a wish. Not a maybe. Not a possibility. When Christ the friend of sinners comes he brings hope that is sure. Certain. Dependable. Reliable. You can count on him. Christ is faithful. 

Your hope rests not on you or what you’ve done. But on Christ and what he has done for you. Hope rests in Christ crucified and risen for you. Hope is anchored in the wounds and words of Jesus. Hope – like holiness – is Christ’s gift to you. Whatever sorrow, whatever sadness, whatever grief we bear…the Lamb is on the throne for you. Despite what we see, think, feel and all that our eyes see around us you are a saint, you are one of God’s holy ones; you belong to Jesus and are given hope in him.

This is what John saw in Revelation 7…

one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?”  I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

 “Therefore they are before the throne of God,
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
    and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
    the sun shall not strike them,
    nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
    and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

For you who are in Christ, for the dead who are in Christ, death is but a sleep. A rest. Tis but a scratch! In the words of the great Johnny Cash hymn…there ain’t no grave can hold my body down. For the Lamb, our Lord Jesus, died and rose on the third day is your shepherd, just as he is the shepherd of all those who have died in faith in Jesus. Our Lord, the Lamb, has brought you to springs of living water, he has restored your soul and one day in the resurrection of the dead, he will restore both body and soul together again. The Lamb, Christ Jesus, gives you hope today on All Saints’ Day, and every day until he calls us home or returns again in glory, that he will wipe away every tear from your eyes. 

Today, and every day, you are all saints, forgiven and redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

A blessed All Saints’ Day to each of you…

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.