The Sheep and the Goats

Christ the King – Bow Brickhill Church – 26 November 2017

Gospel Matthew 25

The sheep and the goats

³¹ ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ ‘Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was ill and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

³⁷ ‘Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you ill or in prison and go to visit you?”

⁴⁰ ‘The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

⁴¹ ‘Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was ill and in prison and you did not look after me.”

⁴⁴ ‘They also will answer, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or ill or in prison, and did not help you?”

⁴⁵ ‘He will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”

⁴⁶ ‘Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.’

Sermon

Christ the King—recent addition to church’s calendar—first instituted by RC church (1925) as last Sunday in October. Adopted by other churches with Revised Common Lectionary. Final Sunday in Ordinary Time—last Sunday before Advent.

Significance

· Christ the Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth

· All people, purchased by the shedding of his precious blood, are subject to his dominion—including judgement [as in today’s parable of sheep and goats]

· Christ does not only reign for all time over all people—he reigns over our minds and wills—he reigns in our hearts.

Sheep and Goats—last of 4 consecutive ‘judgement’ parables in Matthew chapters 24-25

1. Faithful and Wise Servant—Keep watch for the day and the hour are coming—the faithful and wise servant is ready at all times—the wicked servant is tired of waiting his master’s return—starts beating and abusing other servants.
The punishment is shocking:
⁵¹ He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Weeping and gnashing of teeth appears 7 times in NT—6 in Matthew—signifies torments of the damned—Matthew the evangelist has an apocalyptic view of the end of time.

2. 10 Virgins—the door is closed on the unprepared young women who do not take with them a sufficient supply of oil for their lamps

3. Bags of Gold—the servant who buries his master’s wealth in the ground instead of making it work and earning a return is condemned:
²⁶ ‘His master replied, “You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
²⁸ ‘“So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Not a sympathetic or moral picture of God—like other parables such as the Unjust Judge.

4. Sheep and Goats—the goats are sent to eternal punishment for their lack of care towards followers of Jesus, especially the vulnerable.

Interpretation—Matthew sets scene with gathering of all the nations before the Son of Man. Greek word for all people is used in Matthew sometimes for ‘Gentiles’ and sometimes in a universal sense—we’ll assume here Jesus is judge of all people, but this interpretation is controversial.

³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

This picture of judgement seems to include all Christians—whether they are inside or outside the church. Christians are condemned for their failure to take care of and nurture their brothers and sisters in Christ:

⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was ill and in prison and you did not look after me.”

⁴⁴ ‘They also will answer, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or ill or in prison, and did not help you?”

⁴⁵ ‘He will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”

The point is well made—do we see the face of Christ in the beggar on the streets or do we step over them and pass by on the other side? For his audience at the time, Matthew’s stress on neglecting fellow Christians must of course include those who do far worse—persecution of the early Christians was horrific.

Where does ‘justification by faith’ come in? Fear not—Matthew’s account of Jesus’ judgement parables and his insistence that Christian righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees is countered by Jesus’ words, when he says in chapter 11 that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

Matthew’s Jesus is concerned to encourage and empower the persecuted Christians of the early church—but above the judgement and condemnation is the universal command to love our enemies and do good to those who persecute us.

If our faith has grown lukewarm—we would do well to take to heart the judgement parables—which are at least as radical as the command we should love our enemies. And if in our comfortable existence here we fail to care for our sisters and brothers throughout the church and across the world who suffer real and increasing persecution and violence, we are in some danger of neglect or worse.

It seems to me this encapsulates the message of Christ the King for us—judgement yes—not only that we should appreciate the risk of condemnation—but that we must work for Jesus in bringing in his kingdom of truth and life, holiness and grace, justice love and peace. Listen out for these words in the extended preface to our communion. Amen

The Parable of the Bags of Gold

2nd Sunday before Advent – Wingrave Methodist Church – 19 November 2017

Gospel Matthew 25

The parable of the bags of gold

¹⁴ ‘Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

¹⁹ ‘After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.”

²¹ ‘His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

²² ‘The man with two bags of gold also came. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with two bags of gold: see, I have gained two more.”

²³ ‘His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

²⁴ ‘Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. “Master,” he said, “I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.”

²⁶ ‘His master replied, “You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

²⁸ ‘“So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Sermon p187 12

One month later—we are still mired in eschatological parables. Seemingly harsh God treats people unfairly—but it is the same God in Matthew who casts wedding guest into outer darkness—place of weeping and gnashing of teeth—as the compassionate God of the Beatitudes and the One who clothes the lilies of the field.

Talents—One of ‘difficult’ parables—Unjust Judge; banquet holder; labourers in vineyard. If these all portray Jesus or God the Father, why is he so unfair?

Traditional explanation—businessman represents Jesus—servants the church members—extended journey is life of church until end of time—reckoning is return of Jesus and settlement of accounts is judgement—bags of gold are wealth of spiritual gifts given to us according to abilities and χάρισμαtα.

Jesus portrayed as harsh master— I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed—gospel of Matthew redresses somewhat the balance which has swung towards comfy churches with padded chairs and justification by faith alone—towards a righteous and perfect God who is slow to anger but turns away from sin—who requires only the best from us and sits in judgement at the end of time.

Justification by Faith—still we have to remind ourselves we cannot attain the Kingdom through any works of ours—however Christ-like, sacrificial and dedicated to serving others they may be. We cannot effectively work out our own salvation—for most of us that is a comfort because of our inadequacy and recurrent sin.

Weeping and gnashing of teeth—yet in these parables we constantly hear of those who fail to make the grade—consigned to outer darkness for failing to get dressed for the wedding.

Talents—again, we should remember that God freely gives out bags of gold—impossible riches for a slave—signs once again of God’s abundance and generosity towards us.

Master of Slaves—the parable is an allegory—must beware of pushing any allegory too far and too literally—associating God with an unjust judge and a slave master too closely brings far too many problems to the text. But Matthew’s concentration is not on the first two slave who do well—both turn a 100% profit and are rewarded with a happy outcome—but all the emphasis is on warning us to avoid the fate of the lazy slave who did nothing with his money—still, he did not lose it but returned the gold intact.

Outcome is not inevitable—for Matthew, the end of time and our place in it is not a foregone conclusion—his portrayal of outer darkness is not consigning us to oblivion—but his parables are warnings and admonition to us as to how we live our lives and use the abundant grace that God has given us.

For all the difficulties of this parable—Matthew uses the words of Jesus to encourage faithfulness—not condemn us. For the early church the eschatological parables deal with the extended absence of Christ and how Christians should behave. Rather than focussing on judgement of failure—instead we should give thanks for the fact God in his mercy and abundance has entrusted his wealth to us [v14]. God does not want the destruction of anyone

Words and Faithful Deeds in Matthew’s gospel are inseparable—in this sense, justification by faith alone means that our faithfulness is translated into action. As faithful servants of Jesus the Messiah, the ending of the parable of the talents comes as a goad to faithful action. God’s judgement is deeply related to his divine justice and mercy.

God is with us—Immanuel. That’s how Matthew starts his gospel:

²³ ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’). [Matt 1:23] God is with us—and that extends to the end of time. Amen

All Saints

BCP at Great Brickhill – All Saints – 5 November 2017

Reading Revelation 7:9—end

The great multitude in white robes

⁹ After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they cried out in a loud voice:

‘Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.’

¹¹ All the angels were standing round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, ¹² saying:

‘Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honour
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!’

¹³ Then one of the elders asked me, ‘These in white robes – who are they, and where did they come from?’

¹⁴ I answered, ‘Sir, you know.’

And he said, ‘These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵ 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.
¹⁶ “Never again will they hunger;
    never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,”
    nor any scorching heat.
¹⁷ For the Lamb at the centre of the throne
    will be their shepherd;
“he will lead them to springs of living water.”
    “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”’

Reading 1 John 5:1—3

Faith in the incarnate Son of God

5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. ² This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. ³ In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.

Gospel Matthew 5:1—12

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said:
³ ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ ‘Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Sermon

Today I have a clear choice, to preach on the Beatitudes, or to take my text from Revelation.

Thing about Beatitudes—Jesus not saying it is desirable to mourn, to be poor, to hunger or thirst. He is saying you have the assurance you will eventually be blessed if these things happen to you. Meek will inherit the earth—those who mourn will be comforted—the persecuted will inherit the Kingdom of heaven.

Reading from Matthew is set for All Saints. So is the glimpse of the end of the world in Revelation 7. The 7^th seal is about to be broken. Just when we are expecting more apocalyptic destruction there is a pause. A ‘salvation interlude.’ The 4 angels at each corner of the world hold back the destructive winds—signs of God’s judgement—at least until God’s own people can be ‘sealed’ on their foreheads.

Initially the number is the often quoted 144,000—12,000 from each tribe of Israel. After that, John sees a ‘great multitude in white robes that no one could count.’ They come from every nation, people and language. Unlike some other faiths, Christianity is an inclusive and welcoming place for all.

These people stand in the presence of God and worship him. Their tribulations are over. Far from staining their robes with the blood of Jesus the lamb, their garments are now white as snow, and God will shelter them in his presence.

Notice the parallel here with the Beatitudes:

¹⁶ “Never again will they hunger;
    never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,”
    nor any scorching heat.
¹⁷ For the Lamb at the centre of the throne
    will be their shepherd;
“he will lead them to springs of living water.”
    “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”’

Or Psalm 23:

¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    for ever.

Even though we find apocalyptic literature hard to take, still we can understand the promise of God. At the time when the vision of John the Divine was written down, the tribulations suffered by God’s people were terrifying. State sponsored persecution, torture and death. Social and economic marginalisation. These woes awaited those who refused to participate in the Roman economic and political system. For contemporary audiences, the promise of the future in God’s nearer presence and under the protection of his Son was likewise very real.

“Who is able to stand?” is the rhetorical question left dangling in the air following the breaking of the 6^th seal. Interlude portrayed in today’s reading gives God’s people their answer to that question. We are the redeemed community, dressed in white, standing in God’s presence and worshipping him. By the end of the salvation interlude, we can confidently answer, as God’s people, “With God’s help, we are able to stand.”

In a strange reversal of identities, Jesus the lamb morphs into Jesus the Shepherd and Saviour.

¹⁷ For the Lamb at the centre of the throne
    will be …our shepherd;
“he will lead …us to springs of living water.”
    “And God will wipe away every tear from …our eyes.”’

This last verse explains why the passage from Revelation is sometimes chosen for funerals. The language and style of revelation in general might be unfathomable and plain weird, but there’s no getting away from the promises laid out before us.

I am sure the Kingdom of Heaven will not involve us standing around in the huge multitude singing songs and waving palm branches, but you get the idea. What lies behind the imagery is the promise of the Father.

During my ordination training, my tutor declared Revelation his favourite book in the Bible. He took a 6-month sabbatical to write a commentary. The fact he ended up not writing a word was not, to his students like me, greatly surprising. I doubt this part of the NT represents regular reading for you, but perhaps we might learn from what we have heard today and try again to penetrate this strange and daunting literature for ourselves. Amen