Matthew 25:31-46 "Judgement Day"

Grace Mercy and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 

Amen

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.   All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

In the name of Jesus

We love drama.  Maybe we love to hate it.  What we have been witnessing in Ferguson Missouri over the last few months seems to have become the new norm in the world.  As a country, we attach ourselves to an injustice, or maybe the better term to use is a “perceived injustice”, as we don’t rest until it has been rectified in our eyes, justly or not.  Whether it has been a teenage boy, a politician, or even a popular sports star, we want justice, and we want it now.   

In our court system we have this thing called the presumption of innocence.  That is all are innocent until proven guilty.  Until we have a case made against us, all evidence has been shown, and a jury of our peers finds us guilty.  But that does not keep people from forming opinions of the person on trial. 

We are constantly preparing for our day in court, our final judgment on the last day, what we talked a bit about last week.  Innocent until proven guilty.  Wouldn’t that be nice?  Turn that phrase around and that is what we deal with in our spiritual lives.  We are not innocent until God finds us guilty.  We are already guilty.  There is no case to present and defend.  We are flat out, without a doubt, finger print on the weapon guilty.  Already back in the book of Genesis, at the fall of man, the punishment is handed down and the life of innocence is gone.

 The serpent came to Eve in her weakest time and convinced her to eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil.  She then shared with Adam and their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.  And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"  And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself."  He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"  The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate."  Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." 

The sin which we inherited from Adam, have convicted us.  The sins which we have committed since our conception convict us.  Knowing or not knowing God’s laws does not change anything.  The law of God is written on our hearts.  We have a moral compass, or at least it seems as though we do.  We know right from wrong, and yet we daily go against it.  We daily sin.  You are guilty, I am guilty. 

On the last day, which is our focus on this the last Sunday of the church year, you and I deserve to be brought to the throne of God, and we deserve to be ushered to the left with the goats, with the evil ones to whom he says I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,  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.'  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?'  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.  And these will go away into eternal punishment.

And the eternal punishment is so great.  For not doing this to the least of these, our Father tells us Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  We should be expecting nothing less on our judgment day.  We know the facts, we can hold up our lives to the 10 Commandments and see how we have failed miserably.  We know there is no way for us to be presented innocent, we are just plain guilty. 

We can read for ourselves the list of things which are Adam and Eve’s, and therefore our, punishment because of the fall into sin.  Labor pains, working the ground for food, and death.  Even before the punishment of man, God punishes Satan.  Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 

But right after this, in between Satan’s punishment and man’s punishment, the first promise of the Gospel is given.  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.  Through sin we are joined together with the evil forces.  God promises the devil that he will put enmity between Eve’s offspring and Satan’s offspring.  He will cause there to be hatred, bad blood, bitterness, hostility and separation the human race and Satan.  But what pulls us away and fills that gap to keep us apart?  What is the driving force behind this?   

Jesus.  The one little word that felled the devil.  Jesus is the one who broke the chains of sin, the bondage of sin for us.  Yes we are sinful, yes we oppose the will of God daily.  Yes we deserve to have our Father looks at us in our sinfulness and say Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

It is no longer innocent until proven guilty, we are guilty.  Instead it is guilty until made innocent.  Guilty until we are claimed by the Father and made innocent in the blood of the lamb, in the waters of Holy Baptism, and through the forgiveness of sins.  Jesus did what we could not.  He was obedient.  He took the punishment for our sins and made us perfect.  He has taken the goats and made them his lambs.     

Because of this our judgment day is not something which should scare us or frighten us.  It should be a time of celebration knowing that Christ has made us to be the sheep seated at the right hand of the Father who will be ushered into the kingdom of heaven with the words 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  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,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'  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 welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'  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.

We have read of the last day in Amos, Zephaniah, and now we read of the last day in Ezekiel, and hear of the gathering of the sheep by the One true Shepherd.  Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.  As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.  And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country.  I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.  I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD.  I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak. 

We are graciously spared of eternal damnation, of the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his armies.  We are spared of the eternal agony and brought into the presence of the Almighty God.  We did not do it, we couldn’t do it.  It is purely God’s divine mercy.  And now we live in the light of his most precious grace. 

Praise God he has taken such guilt-filled sinners like us and made us his precious possession.  May all that we say and do, until the second coming of Jesus Christ, bear witness to the great work he has done for us. 

Amen

+SDG+

              

"The Day of The Lord" Zephaniah 1:7-16

Grace, Mercy, and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 
Amen

The great day of the Lord is near,
    near and hastening fast

In the Name of Jesus

Our sermon text today comes from a book of the Old Testament seldom heard from, the book of the prophet Zephaniah.  Not well known, but he does give us a great family background so that we can trace him.  We find on his opening verses that he comes from a distinguished family line, tracing himself back to King Hezekiah who brought about religious reform in his time, some four generations before his time.     

When placing him within the timeline of other Old Testament prophets he falls at the same time as Jeremiah, both mentioning the same reigning king in their opening verses, King Josiah, some 600 years before the birth of Christ. 

Perhaps the reason for the lack of readings from the book of Zephaniah is that his book, his prophecy, isn’t the most upbeat.  Spanning all of 3 chapters, a total of just 53 verses, it is filled with eternal warnings, just as with most of Jeremiah’s prophecy. 

Skim through it when you have the chance and you will read more of what we heard this morning.  Three chapters full of fear, destruction, judgment, with a little comfort added for kicks. 

I always thought that judgment day was supposed to be a joyous time!  We even hear from John at the end of Revelation to pray for the coming of the Lord when he writes He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 

But when we hear from Zephaniah the warning The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there.  A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. It strikes fear into our souls. 

It strikes even more fear when we recall the words we heard last week from the other seldom hear from prophet Amos.  Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!  Why would you have the day of the Lord?  It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him.  Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?   “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.  Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them.  Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

The judgment handed down in Zephaniah and Amos is judgment for sinners.  It is for those who have turned against the Lord.  It is for those who praise God with their lips but whose hearts are far from him. 

And it is going to be downright ugly.  The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there.  A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements.

The references made to fish gate, the west wall, the hills, the inhabitants of the Mortar, all a signal to a complete, total, epic destruction.  The searching which the Lord would do, would be thorough as He seeks out those who have sinned against him, who are indifferent to him who say The Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill, and enact punishment on them all.      

This fearful punishment, which will be executed at the second coming of the Son of God, is clearly meant for you, for me, for all who sin, not just in the days of Zephaniah and the prophets.  We are all justly deserving of complete destruction and a one way ticket to the place our Lord speaks of in our Gospel where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Be silent before the Lord God!  For the day of the Lord is near.  In a portion of text that is very condemning, we find Gospel.  Be silent before the Lord.  It doesn’t seem right.  In a world that has developed a very public view towards its legal proceedings, this is exactly the opposite of what we could expect.  The biggest day of our lives is coming.  The day in which our judgment is handed down and that is the time, of all places, where we feel we must make a case for ourselves.  If you are called to a job interview and sit silent what will happen? 

But at the day of the Lord, we CAN stand silent.  We CAN do NOTHING!  For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests.  You dear friends in Christ as the ones for whom the sacrifice was made.  You are the ones for whom our Lord has already endured destruction.  The war against sin, death, and the evil has been won for you.  The eternal judgment was placed upon the Son so you would have life.  And that gnashing of teeth?  Our Lord endured that in your place so that you would be eternal spared. 

The most beautiful truth is that the horridness of the cross, the horridness of the death which our Lord endured upon the tree, has wiped away, for believers, the horridness which the last day would bring.  Our Lord created and made the sacrifice for us so that through his death and resurrection, and through our baptism which ties us intimately to those events, we have been consecrated his holy guests at the marriage feast. 

The case for our salvation is complete.  We must say nothing that last day for our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord will stand in our place, show his wounds on our behalf, and we will be ushered into eternal life for His sake.        

Paul’s words this morning from his first letter to the church in Thessalonica, are such a comfort for us in the last days.  For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.  But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.  For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.  So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.  For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.  But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.  For God has not destined us 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.

Because we have been consecrated as guests, our story has been rewritten.  No longer destined for destruction, but life.  Not the servants who are thrown out, but now sons who abide forever.    

The final day when our Lord comes again will be a fear-filled, awe-filled, day.  A day of reckoning for all living and departed.  What a sight it will be to see the Son of Man descending in the same way he ascended.  What glorious sounds we will hear as the trumpet of God sounds and the call of the coming bridegroom rings forth. 

Yes there will be complete destruction that day.  The earth will be destroyed.  Yes there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth as the Son of Man shuts the door on those who have not confessed him.  But that destruction MUST happen.  On order for creation to be restored, the former MUST pass away.

Praise God that by his divine guiding, all those who have confessed him as Savior, who have been brought into his precious fold, will pass through that destruction to eternal life which knows no end. 

God grant us the aid and support of his Holy Spirit to keep us steadfast until the coming of the Savior of the World.      

Amen

+SGD+

"Here is the Bridegroom" Matthew 25:1-13

Grace, Mercy, and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Amen

But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’

In the Name of Jesus

Today is Nov 9^th.  There is so much to be excited for this time of year.  It is only a few weeks until Thanksgiving, just a few weeks after that is Christmas, there is so much to do, so many people to visit with, so many gatherings to attend.  There are meals to make, lists to accomplish, and to top it all off, deer hunting started yesterday!  What a great time of year. 

But sometimes the excitement gets to be too much.  Just think about the excitement of a child waiting for a parade, for a birthday, for Christmas.  There is that brief moment when they don’t know if the awaited time will ever come?  And that anxiousness is enough to overwhelm us.  I remember a commercial not that long ago for Disney World.  The parents were just finishing up packing and then we saw the children lying in bed with the little boy exclaiming “I’m too excited to sleep!”  Is that you this time of year?  

This waiting and excitement is the life of a Christian.  This is the life of the 10 virgins in our text for today.  Jesus, still speaking in parables, tells us about a great marriage feast about to take place.  

One might expect the conversation to go straight to the party when Jesus says his famous parable words, the kingdom of heaven is like.  But today we get a lesson in waiting, more specifically a lesson in the proper way to wait.  Our Lord says then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.  Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.  For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.  As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.  But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’  Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.  And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’  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.’  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.  Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’  But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 

Today’s parable focuses on the second coming of our Lord.  10 virgins come to celebrate, but when the bridegroom is delayed, the 5 foolish virgins run out of oil, have to leave, and miss the entrance of the guest of honor.  What should have been an easy wait, has become a disaster.  Think about it…how often does a party start on time?  How often does the guests all arrive on time?    

Even more embarrassing is the fact that no guarantee was given as to when the bridegroom was arriving.  Still, all were expected to be ready.  With the cry at midnight in verse 6, here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him, the feelings were sure to have been mixed.  Such excitement for the 5 wise virgins who had enough oil to wait the coming of the bridegroom.  Their waiting paid off, for they were invited into the party.  But utter disappointment for the 5 who had to leave to refill their lamps.  They missed the entrance, the door was now shut, their entrance denied.     

We have entered the final days, which began when our Lord ascended back to the throne of God, and we must have enough fuel.  This will be easy!  With prices the way they are, I am sure we would all be more than happy to go stock up on fuel to wait for the coming bridegroom.  But we must remember this is a parable.  So how does this then apply to us?   

We are waiting for the coming of the bridegroom.  We are those waiting, lining the streets, waiting for the guest of honor to come so that we may be invited in for the feast.  We are in the time of waiting for the sound of the trumpet from our epistle reading, did you catch that?  But 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.  For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  We are waiting the signal which will be given when the son of God comes.  We are longing to hear the words here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him. 

But we are also in a time of danger because we are sitting with the fire of our lamps, the fire within our souls, vigilantly lit, wondering if we have enough oil to make it until the bridegroom arrives.  How much is enough?  How do we know that what we are filling our lamps with, what we are filling our souls with, is the right stuff?

Lets be completely honest.  This is a difficult waiting game.  Worse than waiting for Christmas, a birthday, the arrival of a family member, this is the waiting game for the rest of our lives.   Because we don’t know the day, the time, of the arrival. While we haven’t heard it much this year, the past few years we have had plenty of false announcements of the bridegroom, of the coming Christ.  We have people, “spiritual leaders” around the world telling us they know when the last day will be.  And so many fill their lamps with that persons oil and take just enough for the allotted time.  When they run out, they are left in despair, looking for the next oil to fill up on. 

What is the oil that we fill our lamps with?  We are all about sustainable fuel these days, what do we will our lamps with that we hope will keep our hearts, our souls, burning until the end?  I think it is safe to say that this question boils down to the First Commandment.  What do we fill our hearts with?  As we await the coming of our Lord, what keeps us energized, what sustains our faith until that time? 

The world would like us to fill our hearts with worldly things.  We sang it just a few weeks ago.  Though devils all the world should fill, all eager to devour us.  The devil would like us to fill our hearts, set our hopes, on the fluff of the world.  On beliefs that are not real.  On hopes that are false.  Our faith cannot be sustained to the end on fluff!    

We must ask what is sustainable in this present day and age?  Is it that which the world presents to us which abounds?  No.  As we find ourselves waiting for the last day, we fill our lamps, we fill our hearts with oil.  This oil, this sustainable fuel, can and must only be one thing.  The pure Word of God.  While the world tries to convince us what is important, while the world ties to convince us what will make us happy here on earth is what matters, we are given the grace of an endless supply of the oil of God’s precious Word. 

The worldly oil will always leave a void.  The worldly oil will always run out.  The worldly oil will never last.  Filling our heart, our soul, with the oil of the world is like lighting a lamp without oil.  Yes it may light, but it lasts for only a moment before it goes out.  Filling our lamps with worldly oil will leave us like the 5 foolish virgins who were left knocking and saying Lord, lord, open to us.’  But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.  

Praise God we have been given what endures.  Through the proper teaching of the Word of God, which I pray continually flows from this pulpit, your lamps, your souls, are filled for the coming of our Lord on the last day.  For it is here that you receive that which cannot run out, that which cannot be taken away.

When the foolish virgins left, they had to refill their lamps.  Because you have the unending oil, your lamp is attended to by none other than the bridegroom himself.  He makes sure your lamp, your vessel, is spotless.  He has done the work to make sure you are prepared to be ushered into the marriage feast.      

We are beginning a noticeable shift in our readings now.  That shift takes us toward the end times as we enter into the final 3 weeks of the church year.  We get the privilege of looking at the final day, not in fear, but in faithful trust, when our Lord returns again and calls all believers to himself. 

As we draw ever closer to the second coming of our Lord, when we hear the cry here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him or even hear the sound of the trumpet of God, by His grace, may we be found with oil overflowing in the eternal light of Christ. 

Amen   

+SGD+