righteousness (Mt 25:31-46)

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Psalm 11; Matthew 25:31-46


"'Come you who are blessed by my Father...'
Then the righteous will answer him, saying 'Lord, when did we see you...?'
And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'"

We heard a strong and inspiring message on this text Thursday evening at the first Men's Barn Ministry Supper by Chaplain and Pastor Mike Thomas. He reminded us of sins of commission and of omission, of poor man Lazarus and the rich man who neglected him, of the priest and Levite and the Good Samaritan... Thank you Mike. And last night Brooke and I were privileged to hear Bill Clark from the International Justice Mission (www.ijm.org). Bill shared about what IJM is doing around the world to rescue people from human trafficking, slavery, sexual violence, and widow land seizure. Indeed God's heart is with the poor and powerless, and he wills that justice roll down like rivers; this ministry has exploded in the last ten years, and young people especially, are all over the vision and the work. Thanks be to God.

This parable of the sheep and the goats is not only the last parable Jesus tells in Matthew, but may be the best known - certainly the best known of the last three eschatological parables.

First, let me link you to a site where you can download an excellent sermon on Injustice from James 2 by Tim Keller. You'll find a number of sermons there, all of which relate to his new book "The Reason for God" which answers skeptics' various criticisms of Christianity.
Keller on Injustice

Now for a few comments:

First, I want again to highlight this term "righteous" and the way that Jesus in Matthew emphasizes that what we do matters. In fact, that what we believe and what we do are connected, hearts and actions are inseparable... eg. that a good tree bears good fruit. The theme is all through the Sermon on the Mount. This term, "righteous," is one way of talking about those who relate rightly in all their relationships, not only with God but especially with those in need in the community. It's all through the prophets, the psalms and proverbs; it's alluded to in the psalms for yesterday and today (more in how the wicked pursue and oppress the poor and powerless, in other places we see that the righteous do the exact opposite... just like the LORD):

In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor...
He sits in ambush in the villages;
in hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may seize the poor;
he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
The helpless are crushed, sink down,
and fall by his might... (10:2, 7-10)
Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand;
forget not the afflicted.
Why does the wicked renounce God
and say in his heart, "You will not call to account?"
But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
you have been the helper of the fatherless... (10:12-14)
O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen their heart;
you will incline your ear
to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more (10:17-18).

For the LORD is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
the upright shall behold his face (11:7).

Second, I note that the blessed righteous were just as surprised as the cursed and doomed "omitters". Jesus calls the "sheep" blessed - was it because they did all this stuff? Or did they attend to those in need because they were blessed?? They weren't all self-congratulatory, "Oh good, we were hoping you noticed all the good that we did" or "we certainly are more righteous than those goats, and deserve to inherit the kingdom!" It seems more a natural outflow of being blessed by their Father in heaven. Just as sheep follow the shepherd, listening to his voice and going where he leads, so these listened to and followed Jesus. As they had received grace and mercy, so they extended grace and mercy; as they had been loved unconditionally, so they loved unconditionally.

Jesus is "deadly" serious about his followers being like God, and being like him, in all relationships - not absolute moral perfection, but on the Way with a heart firmly set in that direction. God is making all things right, which includes justice for the poor and powerless - one day he will fully and finally do so. For now, we, the church, are to be doing so... like Mike Thomas and IJM, and all those blessed who don't even realize they are ministering to Jesus in sharing what they've received through him, grace and mercy, unconditional love, and tangible help in the midst of real need.