Matthew 25: 31-46

Theme: Judgment

Series: Parables of the Kingdom

WHEN HEAVEN LAUGHS

Last Sunday, I got ready for Church the same way I always do. I went into the living room and put on my shoes and socks and tie while I watched the talking heads on Meet The Press. Last week the Democrats were lining up to complain about the President’s potential spending of the surplus. Everyone was upset that he had given it away. Then the Republicans were there to defend the budget proposals.

This Sunday, no one complained about the budget. In fact, part of this week’s discussion was that Congress had voted to give the President 40 billion dollars in a supplemental budget which was sure to bust the bank and go into deficient spending. In fact, there was no dissent and the vote was unanimous. What happened? The world had changed. Thousands of Americans were killed by terrorists on American soil. Suddenly, all of the partisan political issues were trivial, unimportant. Politicians no longer have the luxury of angling to make themselves or their party look good or the other to look bad. In one swift stroke, life was stripped to its essence by men who hated us so much that they would die in the process.

Our comfort was gone, our illusion of safety and security disappeared. Wednesday morning, I found a note left to me by my daughter Jessica when she left the house for class. She told me that she loved me and to have a good day. That afternoon, I told her "thank you" and she said, "I was thinking this morning that you never know what is going to happen." So she left me the note. Life is uncertain, we never know what is going to happen. We can leave in the morning an almost idyllic lifestyle and return to a hellish nightmare. We like to think that life is going to be pleasant, little or no suffering. We lull ourselves into believing this illusion. We were reminded this week of the reality. We have no promise of tomorrow.

How providential that we have been studying Matthew 25 for the last few Sundays. In the first parable, we learned that those who follow Jesus are the ones who are ready for the return of Christ. We may get lax in our wait, but we know that Jesus is going to come again.

The parable of the talents told us that those who follow Jesus are to ones who are busy doing the business of the kingdom until Jesus returns. We don’t just wait, we work. We have been given the assets of the Kingdom of God and we are to work them so that we may increase the size and influence of God’s kingdom.

Our text for today is a continuation of the parable of the talents. The master will return one day so that he may take an accounting how his kingdom has been managed. How will God judge us, how will God recognize His sheep? God's sheep are those who are like him, they give of themselves to others, they are generous people.

The day of Judgment is a powerful and emotional scene. On that day, Christ will come in Glory, surrounded by his Angels, to judge the world. And all of the peoples of all the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. It is those who have had a life changing experience with God whom Jesus honors. These are the ones whose character has been changed into the likeness of Christ. They are the ones who gave of themselves to others. Jesus says to them:

I am not suggesting to you that you earn your salvation by your works. But, I am suggesting that followers of Christ produce certain good fruit. We have been changed by God Himself. Salvation frees us from the shackles of selfishness and hatred, self centeredness and greed. When Christians submit themselves to God, God's Holy Spirit changes us into the likeness of Jesus Himself. That is called sanctification. It is a process that requires our cooperation with God. Being set free means just that, we are free from our sins and our sinfulness and we don't have to do the old things anymore. But, we still have to act. We still are obliged to do good. God gives us the ability to do good. That is the fruit of the Holy Spirit at work in us.

The righteous may not always know when they have done a righteous deed because it becomes a part of their nature to do good. Notice that the righteous are shocked when they learned that they had done these things to the king: "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'

Those who did not follow Jesus did not think the poor and the needy were worth their time. They may have thought that they were serving God by doing whatever they did. But, God the Judge rejects them and tells them to depart from him. Even then they object. Why, when did we see you poor, when did we see you naked or hungry or in jail or sick? If we knew you needed us, we certainly would have done it! But, Jesus tells them that to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it unto me. It was not in their nature. If they thought they could have tricked the king by acting as if they cared about the poor, they would have done it. But those who the King praised were those who did not so much think about it, they did what was natural to them. Those who come to Christ by faith have been changed and they do the things that please God.

God cares about how we treat one another. In times like these, we may be tempted to doubt that. People have already asked me where was God when those planes crashed in the World Trade Center. Some people have abandoned the idea so much that they kill innocent people out of blind hatred. And yet, if we abandon the idea that God loves us, we are left with nothing but despair. God does not stop us in our sin any more than he stops us in our expressions of righteousness. But he holds us accountable for both.

The greatest mistake of all is for us to abandon the idea that God is sovereign or that God is still in control. Through the ages, people have forgotten this and have acted as if there is no God or as if God is weak and can be ignored. The Poet wrote in Psalm 2:

Men go about with their world plans and their agendas if they were in control. These men, who killed so many last week, thought they controlled history. They thought that flying Jets into buildings and killing massive numbers will change the course of history. But, God is sovereign and he will bend history to his purposes and to his schedule. The very moment when we think we have it under control is the moment when heaven laughs. The very moment we conclude that God’s Laws are shackles on our feet and we try to tear them off is the moment when God scoffs. God is God and his Will will be done.

There will be a day of Judgment. And we can be sure that people who inflict such pain and misery on us will certainly be judged. But, I must warn you, all of us will face that same judgment. While monstrous crimes will be judged, Jesus said that the measurement will be the least of these.

Do you think you can get away with it? Do you think that you can fake it? Heaven laughs, God scoffs. The only way to escape so great a judgment is to know a greater salvation. You must come by faith to Jesus our Lord and Savior.