February 23: Answers to the Final Exam!

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Matthew 25:31-46   31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 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, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 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.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 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.’ 44 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?’ 45 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.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Note the first phrase:  When the Son of Man comes…not IF He comes;  very interesting.  Christ, the very Personification of Truth Itself, tells us that He WILL truly come in His glory, with the angels to sit on His throne and judge the nations.  Are you among the people of “the nations”?...I guess I am…Will you be assembled there with these people?...I suppose I will.  How awesome will THAT experience be!   The tendency when reading these scriptural passages is to envision them as happening in story-land (somewhere else), in a time and place far, far away. Not this time.  I’ll wave at you when I see you there, if it’s not too inappropriate. After all, it probably will be somewhat of a solemn occasion, but we will be there together!  As we stand there together amidst that crowd of souls, know that when Christ the Judge begins to part the throng into two distinct groups, I pray we will be on the same side, that is, the right side.  If we become separated, how great will our anxiety be!  You see, there will be no excuse then, for landing amid the wrong crowd, because Our God, being the Loving God that He is, has given us the answers to this final exam of ours in today’s Gospel reading because He wants so desperately for us to be saved.    

 

1 Timothy 2:3-4  3For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour,

   ​ 4Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

 

Note also, that He said that those whom He sends away into eternal punishment are going there, not due to what they have done, but what they have NOT done.  So what then must we do?  Let’s follow the instructions:

 

… I was hungry and you gave me food

By feeding those who hunger, we imitate the goodness of God, Who gives us what we ask for if it is for the good of our salvation.  

​Psalm 107:9  9 For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

Matthew 7:9-11 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?

​Luke 6:21  “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied

 

When we see others in need of nourishment, whether it be for the body or the soul, we must fill him with good things and satisfy his longing in order to be like our God. 

 

… I was thirsty and you gave me drink,

Know that we can thirst for things other than water…

 

​Psalm 63:1-3  1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, 

   ​as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Isaiah 41:17  When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

Matthew 5:6  “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

John 6:35  Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

 

…I was a stranger and you welcomed me

How often are we among “strangers”? Most of society thinks of us Christians as foreigners, as well they should, and it is difficult to fit in among them.  If someone seems interested in living the life of a Christian, we must encourage and welcome them.  If we look happy to live in Christ, others will want to join us!  This also means that we cannot judge the relationship each of our neighbors has with God and the manner in which they choose to worship Him.  We must remember that His last desire before He ascended the cross was that we all be ONE!

 

Hebrews 13:2  Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Romans 14:1  As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

Romans 14:3  Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.

Romans 15:7  Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

 

… I was naked and you clothed me

Shame keeps us from God.  Calling attention to someone else’s shame keeps us AND them from God.  It is hard to recover from a sin (a mistake) when someone keeps calling you out.  

 

Genesis 3:10  And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

 

...I was sick and you visited me

If we are truly members of the Body of Christ, which is the Church, we recognize that when one member of the body is sick, all suffer.  We can visit them physically, tending to their needs, or we can visit them spiritually and lift them up in prayer, begging God for healing for them.  In turn, we heal ourselves!    

 

James 1:27  Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

James 5:14-15  14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

 

…I was in prison and you came to me

Souls can be imprisoned in so many ways.  Addiction, prejudice, sloth, anger, and pride are all sins which paralyze the soul.  The soul who chooses to bind itself to these things soon learns that the enemy is not content to allow room for any other, and it becomes so overwhelmed by these sinful dispositions that Christ is abandoned by the soul.  Because of their choice, the Christ Who dwells sacramentally in us may be the only Christ that these people ever encounter.  By visiting those who don’t know Him, we bring Him to them, within ourselves, so that He can visit and heal them.  

 

​Psalm 146:The LORD sets the prisoners free…

Hebrews 13:3  Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

 

Finally, who are “the least of my brethren”?  Christ says that to pass the exam we need to do all these things for THEM.  Here it comes…this is the hard part.  They are your enemies; the LEAST favorite people in your life; those who cause you grief and pain.  They are your executioners, those who ridicule and abuse you.  If we fail to do good for THESE we miss the boat!

Luke 6:32-37   32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. 37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38give, and it will be given to you.

Here we see that the final exam of life condenses down to one thing…transformation into the very image of Christ. We must imitate Him down to the very last and finest detail.  

 

​Luke 23:34  34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

 

Christ rejects no one.   Consider Longinus, the Roman soldier who pierced His side with the lance, putting a hole into His Sacred Heart in order to finish Him off when He was on the cross.  This executioner received the gift of perfect vision when some of the precious blood, the very blood that was spilled BY HIM, was splashed into his nearsighted eyes! Jesus touched the ear of Malchus, another soldier, and healed it before the very same man dragged Him off to death.  Judas was given the Body of Christ before his betrayal of that very Body into the hands of the enemy.  Christ’s love knows no bounds!  He fed, healed and forgave the least of His brethren as an example to us, so that we could look to Him, and learn about the perfect love that is necessary to pass this final exam.   He desires that we become perfect images of Him!  I have heard this analogy which sums it up entirely: A silversmith, when refining silver to its perfect state, removes all of its impurities by exposing it to extreme heat, reducing it to its molten state.  He knows that it is pure, and ready, when he can look upon it in the kettle and clearly see his reflection.  How can we be purified and ready for eternal life without reflecting the image of the Silversmith?