One King, two very different Advents

Posted on December 1, 2024 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Advent 1

Romans 13:11-14  +  Matthew 21:1-9

As always, we start out the Church Year and the Advent season with the Gospel of the King’s Palm Sunday ride into Jerusalem. That Sunday ride, which led up to Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday, was the culmination of Jesus’ first Advent. And you know what I mean when I say “first Advent,” because, as you know very well, there will be a second Advent, a second coming of the King at the end of the age. You and I have been blessed with an understanding of that in the New Testament Church, because, in the Old Testament Church, the prophecies of the Messiah’s coming often lumped together His first Advent with His second Advent, leaving the Old Testament still shrouded in mystery, to some degree. But that mystery has been clarified for us. We now understand that Jesus had to come a first time, in a certain way, to accomplish certain purposes, and that He has to come again, a second time, in a different way, to accomplish different purposes. So let’s take a moment this morning to compare the two Advents of our King.

When Jesus was getting ready to enter Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, He sent two of His disciples to go fetch the donkey and her colt. He told them exactly where they would find them and prepared them with exactly what to say if they were confronted. The King allowed some of His disciples to help prepare for His first advent.

So, too, for His second advent, the King has sent out His disciples to prepare the world for His coming. Some have been sent out into the world to preach His Gospel, to teach His Word, to administer His Sacraments. The Lord, through His Church, sends them exactly where He wants them to go. All of Christ’s followers have been placed where He wants them, to walk decently, to be lights in the world, to prepare the world for His second Advent by telling them about His first Advent.

And what are we to tell? It’s summarized in Jesus’ Palm Sunday ride into Jerusalem, and in the prophecy from the book of Zechariah that foretold it.

In His first Advent, the King came humbly and meekly. He was born in a stable, after all, and laid in a manger. He spent His 33 years walking obediently according to God’s commandments, from the heart, ministering to people’s needs, teaching them the truth. A bruised reed He did not break, a smoldering wick He did not snuff out. He comforted the penitent and associated with sinners who recognized that they needed saving. He rebuked the wicked, but only with His word, not with His fists or with a sword or by calling down lightning from heaven on them. And when it came time for the King to enter the city that would crucify Him by the end of that Holy Week, He came not in judgment, or in violence, but, as the prophet Zechariah foretold, “humble, riding on a donkey, righteous, and having salvation.” The King came at His first advent to bear the sins of the world, to suffer mankind’s hatred, to suffer God’s wrath against sinners, to shed His blood for us, so that we sinners might take refuge in Him and receive from God the reward that He deserved, that He earned. He earned salvation for us, and then He ascended into heaven, and sat down on His throne to rule invisibly over the events of world history. He gave the world 2,000 years to listen to the preaching of His ministers, to repent and to be baptized and to come into His Holy Church, without wiping sinners off the face of the earth. And as part of that unfathomable patience with the world, He has allowed the world to mistreat His beloved Church, even as He was mistreated during His first Advent.

But the King’s second Advent will be much different. He won’t come in humility. He won’t lie in a manger or sit on a donkey, but will come in glory, riding on a cloud, sitting on His throne of judgment. He won’t come in meekness, but as a Warrior, with His cloak stained in crimson, not with His own blood this time, but with the blood of His enemies. He’ll come, not in tolerance, but in vengeance. When He comes, He won’t allow His beloved Christians to suffer one more day or one more hour, but will come with perfect salvation, to redeem His Church, to rescue us from every evil, and to reign forever on His glorious throne.

Let’s make just one more comparison between the King’s first and second Advent. When the King rode into Jerusalem for the culmination of His first Advent, He was greeted by a joyous procession of His followers, who sang His praises as He entered Jerusalem. Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! It was an impressive crowd, for tiny Israel, but still relatively small, made up only of Jewish followers of Jesus, who didn’t yet know the extent of Jesus’ love, who hadn’t yet seen the sacrifice He was going to make for them on the cross, who didn’t yet comprehend that this man who was riding into Jerusalem on a donkey was also the eternal God.

At the King’s second Advent, everyone will know exactly who Jesus is. And everyone will know that He was crucified for the world’s sins and raised again from the dead. Everyone will know that this Man is God, and that He is the King of all. And while most of the world will come to that realization with horror, the whole Church in heaven and on earth, a countless host of people from every nation, tribe, language, and people, will meet the King on that day with even more joy than the crowds outside Jerusalem did, because, even though we’ve never seen Him, we know Jesus better than those crowds did, because we’ve heard the whole story of His salvation. We’ve been receiving our King’s body and blood for much of our lives, singing Sunday after Sunday, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest! And finally we’ll get to meet Him in person!

Now, since that’s true, since we know all that Jesus accomplished for us during His first Advent, and since we know that He’s coming again, and that His second Advent could happen at any time, what kind of people should we be? What kind of lives should we live?

Of course, unbelievers need to repent and be baptized immediately, and the baptized who have since fallen away from the faith must return at once. Believers should live humbly, as even our King lived humbly during His first Advent, and He wasn’t even a sinner, like we are. We have all the more reason to be humble before God and man, and to stay close to the Word of God, and to keep looking to Him for forgiveness and strength. And in light of our King’s second Advent, which could happen at any time, St. Paul tells us how we should live in today’s Epistle: The night is almost over; the day is almost here. Therefore, let us take off the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk decently, as in the daytime, not with debauchery and drunkenness, not with sexual immorality and indecency, not with discord and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its desires.

So keep the King’s two advents in view, not only as you sit here in church, but as you go out from here and go about your day-to-day routine. Humble yourselves now, while the King still deals with sinners humbly. Serve Him now and walk decently now, as children of the light. Give thanks to the King for His humble ride into Jerusalem and for the salvation He earned for you then. But set your heart on the next ride of the King, when He will come down from heaven to save you from every evil in this world. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. Amen.

 

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The different between “My servants” and “you”

Posted on November 27, 2024 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Thanksgiving Eve

Isaiah 65:13-16

We only have four verses before us from Isaiah’s prophecy this evening, and it won’t be too hard to find some applications to our theme of giving thanks to the Lord. As Isaiah’s prophecy draws closer to the end, the contrast becomes clearer and clearer between the righteous and the wicked, and between the very different ends and rewards that each group will have from the LORD, beginning in the New Testament era, and experienced fully after the resurrection. In these four verses, the contrast is made between “My servants” and “you.” So the most important thing we need to understand is, who is who?

In these verses, the Lord Yahweh says only good things, wonderful things, about “My servants.” Who are they? They are the ones who truly serve the true God, who truly worship the true God, who truly fear Him, who truly trust in Him, who truly love Him and are devoted to Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. And who are they? Well, they’re no one, by nature. No one is born with a heart that truly fears God or loves God or trusts in God. God has no servants among mankind, by nature.

But, as we learned over the past year in Isaiah’s prophecy, THE Servant of the LORD would come, the Lord Jesus Christ, and would serve the Lord perfectly, who would bear the sins of the world and suffer and die for them. And His Gospel would go out, showing mankind how no one has served the LORD by nature, but then inviting all men, both Jews and Gentiles, to repent and believe in THE Servant of the LORD, to be forgiven, to be saved, to be made into children of God—into servants of the Lord Yahweh, children of God who serve our Father and seek to do His will, not as slaves, but as sons, who love our Father because He first loved us and gave His only Son for us. Christians—penitent, baptized believers in Christ Jesus—are “His servants.”

The “you” in these verses is directed at Old Testament, unbelieving, impenitent Israel (and, by extension, it applies to all unbelievers). “You” refers to the sinners who refused to repent, who held onto their sins, who insisted on believing whatever they wanted, living however they wanted, ultimately serving themselves and not the Lord God.

What will be the outcome for each group? Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, My servants shall eat, But you shall be hungry; Behold, My servants shall drink, But you shall be thirsty; Behold, My servants shall rejoice, But you shall be ashamed; Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, But you shall cry for sorrow of heart, And wail for grief of spirit.

The two outcomes will be vastly different for “My servants” and for “you.” The differences are portrayed here in earthly terms. “My servants” get to eat and drink and rejoice and sing with gladness of heart, while “you” go hungry and thirsty, and suffer shame, and sorrow and grief. Now, in this life, it’s hard to see a distinction between believers and unbelievers, but it’s not entirely impossible. Believers and unbelievers alike suffer illness, and scarcity, and tragedy, and death. In fact, sometimes the wicked seem to prosper far more than the righteous. But if you look closely, you can, usually, see a difference even now, mainly in the fact that the believer knows gratitude and contentment. St. Paul writes, I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. The believer knows how to give thanks to God, in every situation. Not that our sinful flesh is ever content or eager to give thanks. But the New Man inside of you, the real you, who knows that we have a gracious Father for Jesus’ sake, the real you knows that God is always good, and that it is always good and right to give thanks to Him for every morsel of food, for every gift, for every breath. Meanwhile, the unbeliever is always missing something, even in the midst of plenty. Because he has God for an enemy, not for a friend, and part of the unbeliever knows that there will be a reckoning, but he doesn’t want to flee in faith to Christ to escape condemnation.

But the difference between believers and unbelievers will be made plainly obvious to everyone at the resurrection, when Christ comes again. We’ve seen that distinction very clearly the last two Sundays as they showed us glimpses of the Last Day, in the parable of the sheep and the goats, and in the different outcomes for the wise and the foolish virgins. It’s the same thing Isaiah pictures for us this evening, with pure comfort and joy for “My servants,” and pure torment and sorrow for “you,” that is, for the unbelievers.

What else does God have to say to “you,” that is, to those who are not “His servants”? You shall leave your name as a curse to My chosen; For the Lord GOD will slay you, And call His servants by another name; So that he who blesses himself in the earth Shall bless himself in the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Shall swear by the God of truth.

Speaking to Old Testament, impenitent, apostate Israel, the unbelieving Jews, God says, “you shall leave your name as a curse to My chosen.” In other words, because of your unbelief, you will give up the name of “Israel” and the name of the “Jews” and hand it over to those who truly worship God, who believe in His Christ. This is just what St. Paul talks about in the New Testament, that Christians are the true Israel. But we don’t usually go by that name, do we? Because the name of Israel is so closely associated with those who rejected and still reject Jesus as the Christ, with those whom God permanently cursed with destruction already in the first century AD. And so the name “Israel” has now, in a sense, become a curse for us. But God promises here to call His servants by “another name.” Now, instead of “Israel,” God’s people, His true worshipers, are known as Christians. And at the resurrection, Jesus promises to give His people an even more glorious name, as He says in Rev. 3: He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.

Isaiah concludes, Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My eyes. The glory that awaits God’s servants is so great that neither we nor even God Himself will give a thought to all the troubles that came before. As Paul says to the Romans, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. This is the glory that God’s servants, God’s saints, have to look forward to.

So as you turn your thoughts at Thanksgiving time, with gratitude in your hearts, to all the earthly blessings God has given you, be sure to give thanks to Him most of all for revealing His beloved Son to you, for inviting you to enter His service by faith, for giving you other servants of God to walk through this life with you in His holy Church, and for the promise that He will come again soon to bring His servants into that eternal inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. Amen.

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Watch out for not watching!

Posted on November 24, 2024 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year (Trinity 27)

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11  +  Matthew 25:1-13

I wonder, when you woke up this morning and started getting ready for church, how long was it before you said your first prayer? How long before you thought to yourself, “The Lord may well return today. I’d better make sure I’m ready for His arrival!”? Did it take until you until you got to church? Until you sang the opening hymn? Or did even the words of today’s hymns and Scripture readings not break through all the other thoughts going through your head? How often throughout the week do you give a thought to Jesus’ warning to watch for His return?

You see, different people need different warnings from God, at different times. Atheists and idolaters and all who are outside the Christian Church need to hear one kind of warning, that their sins have separated them from God, that their notion of themselves as “good people” is laughable in God’s sight, that they are bringing God’s wrath down upon themselves with their idolatry and unbelief, and that a Day of Judgment is coming which they will not escape. If they take those warnings seriously, then they need to hear another kind of warning, a hope-filled one, to take refuge in the Lord Jesus, who died for them and who wants them to be saved. Meanwhile, those who are inside the Christian Church need to hear other kinds of warnings, and Scripture provides plenty of examples of them. Watch out for false teachers and false teachings! Watch out for lovelessness! Watch out for pride! Watch out for temptations! Watch out for carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life (as we’ll hear during the Advent season)! Today’s Gospel is a warning for those who are inside the Christian Church. It’s not a fire and brimstone kind of warning about gross and obvious sins. It’s a warning about a danger that’s much more pervasive and much harder to detect. It’s a warning to watch out for failing to watch, issued through the parable of the wise and foolish virgins.

Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. The ten virgins in Jesus’ parable represent the kingdom of heaven, that is, the Christian Church here on earth, in its outward form, those who have been baptized into Christ and who confess Christ Jesus as Lord. They take their lamps, with oil in them, and go out to wait for the Bridegroom, so that they can meet Him when He arrives on the last day, and, with their lamps glowing in the darkness, join in His joyful procession into the wedding hall, into heaven. All ten go out the same way. Pay attention to that. It’s important. All ten are eager to go out, eager to wait, eager to receive the Bridegroom when He comes. All ten go out with lamps that are lit and burning and ready to light the way. In other words, all ten begin as genuine Christians. All ten have faith.

But five of the ten are foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps but took no oil along with them. They’re not wicked, these girls, not prostitutes, not murderers, not drug addicts. And also not unintelligent. Simply unthinking. They know that the Bridegroom will come that night, that He could arrive shortly after sunset or as late as midnight. They know that they might need more oil than their lamps can hold. But they don’t act on that knowledge. They don’t give it any thought. So they’re prepared for a short wait, but not for a long one.

But the other five are wise. The wise, on the other hand, took oil in their vessels, together with their lamps. These girls are not morally “better” than the other five. They’re simply wiser, because they’re thinking ahead. “Sure, the Bridegroom may come within a couple of hours. But He may come as late as midnight! We’d better make sure we bring everything we need both for a short wait and for a long one. Not only our lamps filled with oil, but vessels with extra oil, just in case. Because we know that the oil that can fit in our lamps isn’t going to be enough if we have to wait until midnight.” They’re thinking ahead. They’re waiting intentionally. They’re waiting with purpose.

The foolish virgins represent the foolish Christians who are excited by the Gospel at first and eager to spend eternity with the Lord Jesus. But they ignore His warnings to keep watching. They may still attend church, but they’re more interested in entertainment-style worship than in hearing the preaching of God’s Word and receiving His Sacraments. They think less and less about living in daily contrition and repentance, or about growing in their knowledge and understanding of God’s Word. Their focus turns from heavenly happiness to earthly happiness. They don’t necessarily become wicked people. They just drift away from the faith. Because faith, like fire, needs to be fed continually, or else it dies.

The wise virgins represent the wise Christians who listen to Jesus’ warning and prepare for a long wait. They know their faith needs to be fed, so they seek out the ministry of the Word and Sacraments and make use of it regularly. They know the Christian life isn’t flashy or exciting or entertaining, that it’s full of ups and downs, joys and sorrow, and that Christ has called them to simple works of love and obedience in their day-to-day lives, and so they repeat the same simple mundane works over and over again, but keeping one eye on the heavens, waiting for their dear Savior to come. These are wise Christians who hear their Savior warning them to watch out for not watching, and they take His warning to heart.

Sure enough, the Bridegroom took a while. He didn’t come early in the evening. And all the virgins fell asleep, for which they are not criticized. Now, in today’s Epistle, St. Paul referred to a kind of spiritual sleep that is unhealthy and bad. Christians should be awake, should be sober, not asleep and oblivious to our duties. But that’s not what this sleep is. This sleep in Jesus’ parable represents the sleep of death. Some Christians die still holding onto the faith, because they were wise. They watched, as Jesus urged them to do. They made use of the Means of Grace, and pursued a Christian life. Others, tragically, die without faith, because they stopped making use of the Means of Grace and ended up pursuing an earthly life instead.

And at midnight the cry rang out, ‘Look! The bridegroom is coming! Go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose 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, ‘No, there may not be enough for us and for you. But go instead to those who sell, and buy some for yourselves.’ It wasn’t until the Bridegroom arrived that the five foolish virgins realized that they had made a terrible mistake. Only then did it hit them, “He’s here! But we’re not ready!” And by then, there was no solution, nothing to be done. If they had thought about it before they fell asleep, they would’ve still had time to go get more oil. But now it was too late. They tried to go buy some more oil, but while they were gone, they missed the Bridegroom’s arrival.

The wise, on the other hand, are ready with their lamps. They fall right into the Bridegroom’s joyful procession, and they go into the wedding hall with Him and with His bride, a beautiful picture of the joyful wedding banquet in heaven and the eternal joy that believers will have with Christ, our heavenly Bridegroom.

Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding celebration. And the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Watch, therefore! For you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man will come.

Watch, therefore! See how Jesus pleads with His disciples, pleads with you and me, to take this parable to heart, to take His warning to watch to heart, to avoid missing out on eternal life, because He died for you. What’s more, He saw to it that you were baptized in His name, that you’ve had countless opportunities to use the ministry of His Word and Sacraments. And He’ll continue to provide every opportunity you need to remain faithful until the end. He’s given you His Holy Spirit, who is always with you, urging you back to the Word, urging you to set your mind on the things of God, to keep an eye on the sky, as it were, waiting intentionally for the Lord Jesus to come, waiting with purpose, carrying out His instructions while you wait. He wants you to be with Him. He wants you to be ready.

Because the last thing Jesus wants to say to you on the Last Day is, “I told you so! I offered you all the help you needed. I warned you, over and over again, and still you didn’t watch. Still you didn’t pray. Still you didn’t make the ministry of the Word a priority in your life. Still you drifted away from Me.” That will, tragically, happen to many. But it doesn’t have to happen to any of you. You don’t have to hear those tragic words from Jesus. It’s not too late. Not yet. This parable, this Gospel, this last Sunday of the Church Year is God’s gift to you, to keep you watching, to keep you close to Him and His Word, and to encourage one another, in this Christian family, to keep watching, too.

Because, what are warnings for? They’re to spare you from danger. They’re to keep you from harm. They’re to make sure you stay on the right path and guard you against taking the one that would lead to your death. Warnings are there to bring you safely home. So be wise, dear Christians. Heed the Bridegroom’s warning as we close out another Church Year and prepare to start at the beginning again next Sunday. Make it your goal throughout the coming year to keep oil in your lamp, right up to your dying day, to cling in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to watch continually for His coming! Amen.

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The Lord will not stretch out His hands forever

Posted on November 20, 2024 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 26

Isaiah 65:1-12

Once again, Isaiah’s prophecy is filled with wonderful news for some, and terrible news for others. Old Israel will fall because of their idolatry and impenitence. But New Israel will arise, including some from Old Israel and many from the rest of mankind. The time was not far off when the Lord would replace apostate Israel with genuine believers.

“I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ To a nation that was not called by My name.

This is wonderful news for the Gentiles! That’s who the Lord is talking about here. Prior to Jesus sending out His apostles into all the world, the Gentiles didn’t know the LORD, didn’t seek the LORD, didn’t serve the LORD. And yet the Lord promises to reach out to them. St. Paul quotes this verse in Romans 10 and explains how it’s being fulfilled in his time as he and the other apostles take the Gospel of Christ out to the nations. So, this is wonderful news for you and me and for the millions of people who have been called by the Gospel and brought into the people of God, not because we deserved it, not because we were better than Israel, but purely out of the mercy of God, He sought us out and made Himself known to us.

But what about Israel? God says, I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people. Imagine stretching out your hands for even a minute to someone whom you love, someone whom you care for, someone whom you just want to bring in for a hug and help them in their desperate need…and that person snubs you, just stands there watching you hold out your hands to him, folds him arms, and says, “I don’t want to have anything to do with you.” Would you stand there for a whole minute in the face of that reaction? What about ten minutes, stretching out your hands? An hour? But God wants Israel to picture Him standing there with outstretched arms “all day long,” and the whole time they remained stubborn and rebellious.

God lists some of their rebellious behavior. A people who walk in a way that is not good, According to their own thoughts; In other words, they don’t care about God’s commandments, They do what they want, what they think is right for them, without giving a thought to God. A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; Who sacrifice in gardens, And burn incense on altars of brick; Whereas God had commanded them to offer sacrifices only in the temple in Jerusalem. Who sit among the graves, And spend the night in the tombs; Communing with dead, not unlike the Mexican Day of the Dead practices. Who eat swine’s flesh, And the broth of abominable things is in their vessels; contrary to the dietary restrictions God had given Old Testament Israel in the Law of Moses. Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, Do not come near me, For I am holier than you! Did you know, this is where the phrase “Holier than thou” comes from? The people of Israel had turned their backs on their God and pretended to be holier than He is! “We’re holier than Thou, God!” Not unlike today, when some people are so brazen as to criticize how God runs the universe, who dare to blaspheme God and accuse Him of wrongdoing, as if they were holier than God.

These are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day. A picture of the greatness of God’s wrath and anger against these people who had turned their backs on Him.

“Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence, but will repay— Even repay into their bosom— Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together,” Says the Lord, “Who have burned incense on the mountains And blasphemed Me on the hills; Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”

God stretched out His hands to Israel all day long, but He won’t do it forever. He will repay Israel for their blasphemy and idolatry and stubborn rebellion. And He isn’t only talking about the coming destruction by the Babylonians. He’s talking even more about the near-complete destruction of the Jewish nation after they rejected Jesus as the Christ, never to recover. Remember, the people who currently occupy the territory of Israel are not the continuation of Old Testament Israel. They don’t even try to live under the Old Testament, nor would it help them if they did, because the Old Testament is no longer in effect.

But alongside that terrible news for apostate Israel was a bit of wonderful news for a small number of them. Thus says the Lord: “As the new wine is found in the cluster, And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, For a blessing is in it,’ So will I do for My servants’ sake, That I may not destroy them all. I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, And from Judah an heir of My mountains; My elect shall inherit it, And My servants shall dwell there. Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, And the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, For My people who have sought Me. There would be a remnant of Jews who would repent and believe in the Lord and in His coming Christ. God wouldn’t forsake them. He wouldn’t destroy them along with their unbelieving neighbors. He would welcome them, together with the Gentiles, into His New Israel—an Israel that’s no longer named for their ancestry, but for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; whose territory is no longer a specific piece of land, but whose territory is the permanent inheritance of heaven.

“But you are those who forsake the Lord, Who forget My holy mountain, Who prepare a table for Gad, And who furnish a drink offering for Meni. (Gad and Meni are pagan gods of Fortune and Destiny.) Therefore I will number you for the sword, And you shall all bow down to the slaughter; Because, when I called, you did not answer; When I spoke, you did not hear, But did evil before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight.”

Scathing words from God to the rebellious people of Israel, words of utter destruction, both temporal and eternal. And their destruction is the worse because God called them to repent, to believe, and to obey—He held out His hands all day long to them—and they still refused.

Now, think about it. Who today hasn’t heard about the God of the Bible, the God of Israel who sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins and to bring us into the New Israel of His holy Church? Who hasn’t heard God’s call to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus? In Isaiah’s time, there were few outside of Israel who had heard the Word of God at all. What about today? Today, most of the world has heard God call, has heard God speak, and has still chosen to do as they please, to worship as they please, to believe as they please. God has stretched out His hands for nearly 2,000 years to the people of the world, and, in countless ways, the world has told God, “We are holier than Thou!”

God has terrible news for the world that continues to reject Him and His commandments. But for you and for all who will listen to God’s voice before it’s too late, God has wonderful news of salvation and eternal glory. He still stretches out His hands to you, to embrace you in His forgiveness and love. Don’t harden your hearts to Him! Don’t be rebellious or holier than Thou! Trust in the Lord’s promise of salvation, and then set your minds on keeping His commandments, with the aid of His Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The blessed and the cursed on the Day of Judgment

Posted on November 17, 2024 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Trinity 26

2 Thessalonians 1:3-10  +  Matthew 25:31-46

The Bible clearly tells us that this earth and this universe won’t last forever. A “last day” is coming, and in last week’s Epistle from 1 Thessalonians, St. Paul told us about something important that will happen on that day. The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. In those verses, Paul focused just on the resurrection of those who believed in Christ and on the joyful reunion believers will have on that day as we gather together forever around the Lord Jesus. But those who died in unbelief will be raised, too, and in today’s Epistle from 2 Thessalonians, Paul describes another aspect of the Last Day, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He speaks of punishment with everlasting destruction for unbelievers, even as the Lord will be glorified among His saints and admired among all those who believe. It’s this picture of judgment on the Last Day that we want to focus on today, since it’s also the focus of Jesus’ parable in the Gospel, the parable of the sheep and the goats.

Judgment is one aspect of judgment day, but we need to understand that correctly. There will be no hearing, no investigation, no trial. Because by the time the Judge finally comes, He will have already made all His decisions. Jesus says, When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. And all nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will set the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. See? No trial, no hearing, no giving anyone a chance to defend himself and sway the Judge one way or the other. The judgment is made before the Last Day, here and now.

In fact, Jesus doesn’t even talk about the basis of the judgment in this text. He does talk about it elsewhere, like in John 3: For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Or again in John 5: For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

So the judgment is made here and now. All people have earned God’s condemnation, according to His holy Law, because all are sinners. No one has given away enough food to anyone to earn an innocent verdict and a place in heaven. No one has been kind enough to a stranger, or made enough visits to the sick or to the imprisoned to purchase a place at the Judge’s right hand. No, God sent His Son into the world to save sinners, to call us by His Gospel to repent of our sins and to believe in Him who bore our sins on the cross and was raised to life again, to be brought into His salvation through faith and through Holy Baptism. As St. Paul says in the book of Romans, There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Faith in Jesus Christ is what makes someone a sheep of the Good Shepherd. Faith in Jesus Christ is what reserves a place for us at the Judge’s right hand.

It’s to these whom the Judge will speak first on Judgment Day: Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you blessed ones of my Father! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” It will be a day of joy and celebration for believers, a day when we get to hear only words of peace and blessing from Jesus. What we have to look forward to is an “inheritance” in God’s kingdom, the inheritance He has been preparing for the chosen children of God since before the world was created. Remember, an inheritance isn’t given on the basis of good works. An inheritance is given on the basis of a person’s relationship to someone, which makes perfect sense, because, as Paul writes to the Galatians, You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

But good works are evidence of faith and fruits of faith, and Jesus wants us to understand that He is paying attention to those fruits. He focuses in this parable on just one kind of good work: the small works of kindness that believers do for other believers in Christ. I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me. Now, only a handful of people in history had the chance to do any of those things for Jesus directly. Mary and Joseph, Mary and Martha, and a few others. But that’s not what Jesus is talking about here. Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these my brothers, you did for me. The small works of kindness toward Jesus’ brothers, our fellow Christians—whether done for a little baby or a little child, for an elderly Christian in a nursing home, or for anyone in between—Jesus is counting them up, every one, not as reasons to let a person into heaven, but as evidence that this person was indeed righteous by faith and a child and heir of heaven, because that’s how the heirs of heaven behave toward their fellow heirs of heaven. As Jesus said to His disciples, By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

On the other hand, there are the unbelievers, the unrighteous, the goats—those who ended their lives in impenitence, still clinging to their sins, not trusting in the Lord Jesus for forgiveness. To them Jesus, the King, will say, Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. These people spent their earthly lives and will now spend eternity under God’s curse. That’s how all people begin this life, under the curse of sin and death and eternal separation from God. Those who are persuaded by the Gospel to look to Christ for forgiveness have their curse removed. As Paul writes to the Galatians, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the nations in Christ Jesus. God held out this curse-lifting Gospel to the nations, but all those among the nations who didn’t believe in Christ Jesus remain under the curse.

That means that they’ll have to answer for all their sins. They’ll be held accountable by God for every unclean thought, word, and deed. Every act of adultery and sexual immorality, every lustful desire. Every drunken party, every sinful worry, every act of disobedience, every prayer offered to idols. But those aren’t even the sins Jesus mentions in today’s parable. I was hungry, and you did not give Me food, thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, etc…Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. The things Jesus mentions here seem so small, so harmless compared to the great deeds of wickedness that men engage in. But that’s just the thing with God’s holy Law. It doesn’t only demand that you avoid leading a grossly immoral life. It demands the little deeds of love, too. And Jesus shows here that He is especially offended when people who have the opportunity to help a little Christian in need fail to offer the needed help. He takes it personally. He takes it as a sin committed directly against Him, against the Judge of all mankind. Of course, even those sins He was willing to forgive during this life, if a person should repent and believe in Him. But not anymore, once the Last Day arrives. Then there will be no opportunity given for repentance. Then Christ will no longer offer to wash away anyone’s sins in Holy Baptism. Then, for the unrighteous, there will be only judgment.

And these will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

So, what does Jesus’ description of Judgment Day do for you? How does it help you? If you remain outside of Christ, where you have to answer for every one of your misdeeds, it should frighten you more than your worst nightmare, because you eventually wake up from a nightmare, but there is no end to eternal punishment. If you’re frightened because of your sins, then this description should encourage you to seek a pardon from the Judge before Judgment Day comes, to be baptized, to come into Christ’s holy Church, where you will be safe on the Day of Judgment. If you’re already a believing member of Christ’s holy Church, then this description of Judgment Day should compel you to remain a living member of Christ’s Church, to be diligent about hearing the Word of God and receiving the body and blood of the Judge in His perpetual meal of forgiveness, and to be diligent about investigating and tending to the needs of your fellow Christians, great and small, because in serving them you are also serving the Lord Jesus Himself, and He will not forget those little deeds of kindness. Finally, if you’re a member of Christ’s Church and doing all these things, then Jesus’ description of Judgment Day should fill you will joy and peace and hope, because He will come in vengeance on those who make life miserable for you in this life, and He’ll settle all the scores, while you have eternal life and goodness and love to look forward to. What greater incentive could there be to eagerly and joyfully await that day? And so we say with St. Peter, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. Amen.

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