SERVANT SAYINGS SERMON PART 3

SERVANT SAYINGS #3—EXPERIENCING JESUS

³¹ "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy^[c] angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. ³² 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. ³³ And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of 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 took Me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I 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 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ³⁹ Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' ⁴⁰ And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
⁴¹ "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting 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 take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'
⁴⁴ "Then they also will answer Him,^[d] 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, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch 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 everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Many of us are familiar with this story. This parable that Jesus taught. It is the end of time. Christ comes as judge. And when he comes as judge he separates the sheep from the goats. The sheep go to the right, and the goats to his left. He starts by telling the sheep that they will inherit the kingdom because they fed Jesus when he was hungry, gave him a drink when he was cold, gave him a place to stay when he was a stranger, gave him clothes when he was naked, visited him when he was sick, and came to Him when he was in prison. When did we do this, they asked. Jesus said when they did it for the least of these they did it for Him.

 

In other words, when you help those in need, when you reach out to those that are vulnerable, when you choose to love those most ignored, it may appear you are loving others, but you are in truth demonstrating your love for Christ and his kingdom.

 

The opposite fate awaits the goats. They ignored those in need. They didn't pay attention to the opportunities to serve others. And Jesus told these people that they missed HIM. They ignored HIM. They failed to serve HIM, because they missed their opportunities to love their neighbor.

 

If you don't think serving our neighbors is serious business, you need to pay attention to what is going on here! Reaching outside the four walls of the church and choosing to serve our neighbors with their physical needs is central to what it means to trust Jesus. You can see that it is so central to what it means to trust Jesus, that our ability to live this truth is mentioned in the context of God's judgment. That is something to think about.

 

But I want you to pay attention to something else here. When we reach out and serve, when we reach out in compassion to those who are in need, when we are good neighbors to those in our community, well, that is when Jesus shows up. You want to experience Christ, start reaching out and serving. You wonder if God's presence in a living and active witness in your life? Well, get out and help somebody who is having a hard time or who needs your help. You wonder why God seems distant? Maybe it is because you sit around and feel sorry for yourself, think about what you want or what you need and don't have, and then wonder why God seems far away. Get out and choose to serve. You will feel the presence of God. You will hear his voice. You will experience his presence.

 

That is what this passage promises isn't it? When we roll up our sleeves and serve our neighbors in the name of Jesus, we will at that moment be serving Jesus and loving Jesus, even as we love other people.

 

So we are going to be a church that serves. We are going to serve each other, because that is what brothers and sisters do in the body of Christ. But we are going to also serve those in our community, because we want to do what Jesus commands. We know we are more like Jesus when we reach out and serve in Jesus name. We know that we the kind of neighbor Jesus calls us to be when we serve others in Jesus name. And we know that we experience Jesus' presence when we reach out and give of ourselves as the hands and feet of Jesus.

 

Some churches witness with their words. Some churches witness in their worship. Starting in September we give you the opportunity to witness through serving your neighbor. To proclaim God's good news through simple acts of kindness. And to be part of a church-wide effort that is doing so.

 

Like good soldiers in reserve, you are being called into service. Our cause is right. Our plan is good. Our master is leading us to charge forward. I pray that we will march TOGETHER, standing TOGETHER and working together to carry out the MISSION we have agreed to carry out in front of us. EVERYONE has a part to play, a way to give to the cause. LET US SERVE TOGETHER. LET US SERVE TOGETHER IN JESUS NAME. AMEN.