Richard Davenport
November 26, 2023 – Proper 29 – Last Sunday of Church Year
Matthew 25:31-46
The End Times. In Greek, the word for the End Times or End Things is eschaton. There’s a whole field of theology dedicated to the study of the End Times, called eschatology. What is the End Times all about? What does it involve? How will it happen? What will it look like? All of that and more falls under the broad category of eschatology.
We Lutherans spend a lot of time discussing eschatology, though not in the ways some other church bodies do. We aren’t so bothered by the wild imagery of the book of Revelation as some are. Yes, there are some pretty crazy things in there. Yes, it can be difficult to unravel what’s going on there and make sense of it. But, we are explicitly told it’s all a vision. That means there’s stuff in there that is helpful and worth knowing, it’s part of the Bible after all, but they are also visions and not meant to be taken literally any more than any of the other visions in the Bible are. No literal lakes of burning sulfur. No flying dragons. No angels pouring out bowls of God’s wrath on the earth and so forth. None of that. Well, probably not. They’re visions, so it’s hard to say with complete certainty there.
Still, most of that kind of thing we don’t worry about. We don’t buy into anything like the Rapture. Tim Lahaye and his “Left Behind” series of books from several years ago paints a bleak picture of what the world might look like if God were to take many or all of the righteous out prior to his return. But the Rapture and other ideas, such as the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth are all drawn from rather brief bits of Revelation and aren’t intended as precise descriptions of future events.
I say we Lutherans still study eschatology a lot, we just don’t spend so much time on those kinds of things. There are a lot of other things the Bible tells us about the end. We look at the new creation, the resurrection, the freedom from sin, death, and Satan. We look at the clearer promises God makes about what he will do for his people. Baptism, Communion, and other means God uses to give comfort to his people, certainty in his salvation.
In our Gospel reading today, Jesus is sharing more details of the End Times with his disciples. It’s helpful to remember that this is part of one long lecture that began at the beginning of chapter 24. He has talked about the temple being torn down, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines. He has explained more using parables, the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the master and his talents, the need for watchfulness, the need for preparedness, the knowledge that Christ will return without warning.
Jesus wraps up his lecture with our reading for today. It’s an uncomfortable passage. Often it’s called the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, but it really isn’t a parable. Jesus tells many parables, little stories designed to convey some deeper meaning, much like Aesop’s Fables. But Jesus is also pretty good about telling us when he’s doing that. “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like…” he says as he goes into his tale of the ten virgins. “For it will be like…” he says as he tells us about a master who entrusts his servants with his money.
Here he states directly, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.” He makes no comparison here. There is no allegorical story to mine for spiritual nuggets. The only real metaphor we have here is how the people will be separated, like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Still, we know he isn’t talking about actual sheep and goats because he tells us plainly he is talking about people, and not just any people, but ALL people. Everyone. All will be sorted, one from another. Not arbitrarily, but according to the criteria Jesus uses. Some will go to one side, some to the other, but none will be left out. There is no third option.
As I said, this kind of thing makes us a little uncomfortable. It isn’t a parable, so we can’t just dismiss the imagery and say there must be some deeper meaning. That doesn’t stop us from trying, however. Usually people will look at this passage and highlight the criteria Jesus uses. There are those who gave him food, drink, and clothing, who visited him and comforted him, and those who didn’t. Neither group does it directly, but “to the least of these, my brothers.”
This then becomes a directive for the church. As God’s people, presumably the sheep, we have a duty to care for those around us in need. As we feed and cloth the less fortunate, as we show love and compassion to those who are hurting, we are also demonstrating our love for God himself. Those who didn’t do any of those things are caught by surprise, not realizing the connection. Since we know God wants us to do those things, we ought to do them, knowing he will see our work and bless it.
There are many places in the Bible where God talks about caring for the less fortunate, especially those who have no one else to advocate on their behalf, even more especially those of the faith. God’s people have always had this directive, to love our neighbor as ourselves, second only to loving God. It’s not really an optional activity. It’s a part of who we are and what we do and, since God commanded us to do it, it is also something he will acknowledge and bless.
But, like I said, this isn’t a parable. It’s just a statement of what will happen. The less fortunate also aren’t really who Jesus is referring to. Jesus talks about his brothers a few times, such as after his resurrection, when he speaks to the women at the tomb and says, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” He isn’t speaking of his actual family, nor is he talking about the less fortunate who may be there. He is talking about his followers, those he has called to spread the Gospel and carry on the work of the kingdom of God.
We create a lot of anxiety, doubt, and heartache over passages like these. “Did I do enough? Did I care for enough people? Did I feed every hungry person I met? After all, feeding the poor is like giving food to Jesus himself. There are a lot of homeless folks out there. What will happen if I miss some? There are probably times I’m not as attentive to others as I should be, especially people who are feeling lonely or lost. How many times can I fail before I’m moved from the right to the left, from the sheep to the goats?
As we so often do, we turn a passage about what God has done into one about what have done, or are supposed to do. We try and steal the spotlight away from God, even it’s just to bring more grief and anxiety to our lives, to create more stress and bring more doubt into our relationship with God. We take something that demonstrates God’s grace and use it instead to fuel our inherent and sinful need to prove ourselves by our own means.
This isn’t one of Jesus’ pithy stories subtly prodding us to live more righteous lives. This is a prophecy of how the righteous judge has mercy. How? Because, again, his brothers, his sisters, his family, those are the ones he has called to share the Gospel, to proclaim the good news to the world.
In the narrow sense, that means the apostles he sent out directly and the evangelists who worked with them. Then all of pastors and missionaries who have that work as their primary profession. But, more broadly, it also means anyone who proclaimed the Gospel to you, anyone who told you about Jesus and the love God has for you, how Jesus died so you might live. Parents, teachers, friends, anyone who took a little to share the good news with you is a brother or sister of Christ Jesus.
Did you receive the message? Did you hear and believe what you were told? If so, then you’re on the sheep side. If not, you’re on the goat side. The division between the two has nothing to do with how much or how little someone did and is entirely about the work of God, those who receive it and those who don’t. Anything you did, feeding people, clothing people, visiting people, and so forth, didn’t get you on one side or the other. It is simply the response of a grateful heart to the message of sins forgiven and the blessing of eternal life.
It was never about what you did or didn’t do and always about what God has done, sending people to reveal his love to you, bringing the Holy Spirit to awaken faith within you. Making it about you is what gets you into trouble. It always does. Every time you do, God calls you to confess that sin, taking something of his and turning into something of yours. Taking something meant to bring assurance, confidence, and hope, into something that brings, doubt, anxiety, and fear.
He washes you in the baptismal waters, marking you as righteous and holy, marking you for eternal life. He continues sending his brothers and sisters to you, proclaiming the good news that even those sins are forgiven and washed away. His return is not something to fear, but to welcome. He has already claimed you as his own. He will return to weed out all of those who has refused and rejected him, clearing them out from among his redeemed people. They did not listen. They did not want to listen. They will have reason to fear and be ashamed. But we will have nothing to fear. You are already righteous. Eternity in his kingdom is already waiting for you.