St Matthew 25:31-46/2 Peter 3:3-14/Daniel 7:9-14
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Beloved in the Lord! You are sheep, not goats. You are the dear lambs of your Good Shepherd, even Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Man. This is not by any merit or worthiness in you. The kingdom was prepared for you from the foundation of the world. You are elect by God in Christ Jesus by His sheer grace and boundless mercy alone. You are baptized, redeemed, washed up in the precious blood of the Lamb of God pouring from His holy wounds. “The Lamb the sheep has ransomed” as the Church sings.
Let us go further for the Gospel is rich. You are blessed by the Father, your Father, our Father. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You are given to inherit the kingdom. Not by your works, but because you are an heir. St Paul writes, For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Sprit Himself bears witness with our sprit that we are children of God, and if children then heirs – heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him (Rm 8:14-17).
So it is that, When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne you shall be gather to His right. You are with Jesus. You are His faithful ones, as the Psalmist said; for you are in covenant with Him by sacrifice. Jesus said, This is My Blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (Mt 26:28). His Blood is upon your lips. It marks your soul. Death passes over. At the last you, O righteous, shall enter into eternal life.
The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, asks St Peter, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness?
It is not a question of salvation, not one of merit, not one of Law. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight (Rm 3:20); and All who rely on works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law and do them” (Gal 3:10). Cursed. As in, He will say to those on His left, “Depart from Me, you cursed.”
If it is not a question of salvation, then what? You are a sheep. You do sheepy things. By grace, through faith in Christ, you deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. Baptized into Christ you see Christ in your neighbor, and in love and mercy, serve him. Does Jesus not say, I was hungry and you gave Me food? I was thirsty and you gave Me drink? Etc. Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.
Luther said it this way: “We conclude that a Christian does not live in himself, but in Christ and in his neighbor, or else he is not a Christian; he lives in Christ through faith, in his neighbor through love. Through faith he is caught up above himself into God. Through love, he sinks back down below himself into his neighbor, though always remaining in God and His love” (On Christian Freedom, 78).
So it is that you live toward God through faith, receiving from Him all that is necessary to support not only this by and life, but also the life to come. You are His dear lamb, a sheep of your Good Shepherd. Hear His voice. Listen to the preaching of His Word which is the preaching of repentance in His Name unto faith in His full and free forgiveness of your sins. This is the sure and certain verdict of the Lord your God now and forever.
You have been crucified and put to death with Him, so also are you raised up, in and with Him, to a brand new life. In Him the old has passed away and you are a new creation. It is written, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal 2:20).
Therefore, through faith, you are joined with Christ, as St Paul said, Christ lives in me. Christ and your soul become one flesh. He is your heavenly Bridegroom and you His bride. He has taken your dowry, such as it is, unto Himself; absorbed your sin, death, wrath of God, punishments of hell, condemnation under the Law, and given to your soul His grace, life, salvation, righteousness, innocence, blessedness. Faith, which is itself a gift, is the wedding ring, as it were, that bonds you to Christ and Christ to you.
The kingdom is already yours. The verdict is spoken now. For the Holy Absolution, the pronouncement that your sins are forgiven in the blood of Christ, is the verdict of the Last Day simply slipping out ahead of time! You are free, dear one. Completely free in Christ.
Yet learn this – it is not from works that we are free through faith in Christ, but from opinions concerning works. We are free from the foolish presumption of seeking justification through works. Faith redeems your consciences, makes them upright, and preserves them, since by faith you see that righteousness is not in works. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing it [faith] is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Eph 2:8-9).
St Paul does not stop there; but adds: For we are God’s worskmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10). Good works neither can nor ought to be absent. We pray for daily bread, for we cannot exist without food and drink and every work of this mortal body. But your righteousness is not found in them, but in faith.
Therefore live in love toward your neighbor. In particular, toward your brothers and sisters in Christ. Not out of compulsion. And not to get something from Him or from anyone else. But because this is the life of Christ which He also lives in love toward you. He daily and richly provides you with food and drink for your hunger and thirst; with safe shelter and sanctuary from the cold, from darkness and death; with clothing for your nakedness; with comfort and care in all adversity; with good health in place of all your illness, and with release from your prison.
So then, in Him, are you given to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the poor, visit the sick and imprisoned. Do it for Jesus’ sake. Do it all in His Name. Do it all, as unto Him. It is written, Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? (Is 58:6-7).
From your own flesh. Indeed it is not the occasional extraordinary acts of kindness, charity, and mercy toward those we barely know that is difficult. But the steady and faithful care of those who are set alongside of us – our own flesh.
Learn to see Christ in your neighbor’s frailties and weakness and needs, but also in the the duties and demands of your vocation toward your parents, your spouse, your children, your siblings. For it is precisely in His poor and needy ones, in the weak and lowly and despised, and in His little ones of every age and every kind, that you encounter your Lord and serve Him in love.
For this is how He has come to you and served you in love. He has been hungry and thirsted. He has been the stranger and the outcast. He has been abandoned by His friends, and left to bear the burden alone. He has been imprisoned, stripped naked, tortured, mocked and cruelly punished – for your sins. He has been sick with the sickness of the world, even to death upon the Cross.
He is in your neighbor’s weakness. But He is also with you, in love, in your weakness and shame, in your nakedness and pain, in your hunger and fear, in your sickness and at the hour of your death. He is with you as One who has been there before you. He is with you as your Redeemer, even in the Judgment.
Here then is comfort and peace for those who are waiting for new heavens and a new earth: the salutary Gift of His Body and Blood; refreshment for the strengthening of your faith toward Him and your fervent love toward one another. Come and receive the ministration of Christ; the sacrifice of thanksgiving, true food for your hunger, true drink for your thirst. Come, you blessed of the Father, receive your King.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Beloved in the Lord! You are sheep, not goats. You are the dear lambs of your Good Shepherd, even Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Man. This is not by any merit or worthiness in you. The kingdom was prepared for you from the foundation of the world. You are elect by God in Christ Jesus by His sheer grace and boundless mercy alone. You are baptized, redeemed, washed up in the precious blood of the Lamb of God pouring from His holy wounds. “The Lamb the sheep has ransomed” as the Church sings.
Let us go further for the Gospel is rich. You are blessed by the Father, your Father, our Father. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You are given to inherit the kingdom. Not by your works, but because you are an heir. St Paul writes, For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Sprit Himself bears witness with our sprit that we are children of God, and if children then heirs – heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him (Rm 8:14-17).
So it is that, When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne you shall be gather to His right. You are with Jesus. You are His faithful ones, as the Psalmist said; for you are in covenant with Him by sacrifice. Jesus said, This is My Blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (Mt 26:28). His Blood is upon your lips. It marks your soul. Death passes over. At the last you, O righteous, shall enter into eternal life.
The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, asks St Peter, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness?
It is not a question of salvation, not one of merit, not one of Law. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight (Rm 3:20); and All who rely on works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law and do them” (Gal 3:10). Cursed. As in, He will say to those on His left, “Depart from Me, you cursed.”
If it is not a question of salvation, then what? You are a sheep. You do sheepy things. By grace, through faith in Christ, you deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. Baptized into Christ you see Christ in your neighbor, and in love and mercy, serve him. Does Jesus not say, I was hungry and you gave Me food? I was thirsty and you gave Me drink? Etc. Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.
Luther said it this way: “We conclude that a Christian does not live in himself, but in Christ and in his neighbor, or else he is not a Christian; he lives in Christ through faith, in his neighbor through love. Through faith he is caught up above himself into God. Through love, he sinks back down below himself into his neighbor, though always remaining in God and His love” (On Christian Freedom, 78).
So it is that you live toward God through faith, receiving from Him all that is necessary to support not only this by and life, but also the life to come. You are His dear lamb, a sheep of your Good Shepherd. Hear His voice. Listen to the preaching of His Word which is the preaching of repentance in His Name unto faith in His full and free forgiveness of your sins. This is the sure and certain verdict of the Lord your God now and forever.
You have been crucified and put to death with Him, so also are you raised up, in and with Him, to a brand new life. In Him the old has passed away and you are a new creation. It is written, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal 2:20).
Therefore, through faith, you are joined with Christ, as St Paul said, Christ lives in me. Christ and your soul become one flesh. He is your heavenly Bridegroom and you His bride. He has taken your dowry, such as it is, unto Himself; absorbed your sin, death, wrath of God, punishments of hell, condemnation under the Law, and given to your soul His grace, life, salvation, righteousness, innocence, blessedness. Faith, which is itself a gift, is the wedding ring, as it were, that bonds you to Christ and Christ to you.
The kingdom is already yours. The verdict is spoken now. For the Holy Absolution, the pronouncement that your sins are forgiven in the blood of Christ, is the verdict of the Last Day simply slipping out ahead of time! You are free, dear one. Completely free in Christ.
Yet learn this – it is not from works that we are free through faith in Christ, but from opinions concerning works. We are free from the foolish presumption of seeking justification through works. Faith redeems your consciences, makes them upright, and preserves them, since by faith you see that righteousness is not in works. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing it [faith] is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Eph 2:8-9).
St Paul does not stop there; but adds: For we are God’s worskmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10). Good works neither can nor ought to be absent. We pray for daily bread, for we cannot exist without food and drink and every work of this mortal body. But your righteousness is not found in them, but in faith.
Therefore live in love toward your neighbor. In particular, toward your brothers and sisters in Christ. Not out of compulsion. And not to get something from Him or from anyone else. But because this is the life of Christ which He also lives in love toward you. He daily and richly provides you with food and drink for your hunger and thirst; with safe shelter and sanctuary from the cold, from darkness and death; with clothing for your nakedness; with comfort and care in all adversity; with good health in place of all your illness, and with release from your prison.
So then, in Him, are you given to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the poor, visit the sick and imprisoned. Do it for Jesus’ sake. Do it all in His Name. Do it all, as unto Him. It is written, Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? (Is 58:6-7).
From your own flesh. Indeed it is not the occasional extraordinary acts of kindness, charity, and mercy toward those we barely know that is difficult. But the steady and faithful care of those who are set alongside of us – our own flesh.
Learn to see Christ in your neighbor’s frailties and weakness and needs, but also in the the duties and demands of your vocation toward your parents, your spouse, your children, your siblings. For it is precisely in His poor and needy ones, in the weak and lowly and despised, and in His little ones of every age and every kind, that you encounter your Lord and serve Him in love.
For this is how He has come to you and served you in love. He has been hungry and thirsted. He has been the stranger and the outcast. He has been abandoned by His friends, and left to bear the burden alone. He has been imprisoned, stripped naked, tortured, mocked and cruelly punished – for your sins. He has been sick with the sickness of the world, even to death upon the Cross.
He is in your neighbor’s weakness. But He is also with you, in love, in your weakness and shame, in your nakedness and pain, in your hunger and fear, in your sickness and at the hour of your death. He is with you as One who has been there before you. He is with you as your Redeemer, even in the Judgment.
Here then is comfort and peace for those who are waiting for new heavens and a new earth: the salutary Gift of His Body and Blood; refreshment for the strengthening of your faith toward Him and your fervent love toward one another. Come and receive the ministration of Christ; the sacrifice of thanksgiving, true food for your hunger, true drink for your thirst. Come, you blessed of the Father, receive your King.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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