The King first came to save the world

Posted on December 3, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Advent 1

Romans 13:11-14  +  Matthew 21:1-9

The King is coming! That was the Advent preaching of all the Old Testament prophets, from the Garden of Eden onward. Christ, the King, Christ, the Seed of the woman, the Seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Son of David, is coming! But prophecies are rarely simple and straightforward. The prophecies about the coming Christ were all over the map. Some foretold His humanity, others foretold His divinity, and many foretold both at the same time. Some foretold Him coming in humility, others in glory; some pictured Him being despised and rejected, others pictured Him being loved and worshiped; some pictured Him as a King coming on a donkey, others on a cloud; some foretold that He would come to save, others that He would come to judge; sometimes He’s pictured establishing peace and prosperity on earth, sometimes bringing war and destruction.

Which is it, dear Prophets? It’s all true! But many of the prophecies mix together literal events and spiritual events, literal truth combined with spiritual truth. Many of the prophecies mix together both literal and figurative references to Israel and Judah and Jerusalem. And one of the biggest things we have to understand about the prophecies of Christ’s coming is that they throw all of this information together in a future heap, from the prophets’ perspective. Only after Christ came and suffered and died and rose again and commissioned His apostles and ascended into heaven do we finally grasp this essential truth of Old Testament prophecy: There are two distinct, separate advents of Christ, with different things being done to Him and by Him at each one, and with a long period of time separating His two advents—the time during which His Holy Christian Church is to be built throughout the world.

This morning our Gospel from Matthew 21 points us to a prophecy made through the prophet Zechariah, some 500 years before Jesus was born, a prophecy about a King riding on a donkey. It’s a prophecy that was already fulfilled literally in some ways on Palm Sunday; but other parts of the prophecy are still being and will be fulfilled in other ways figuratively or spiritually. May God grant us His Holy Spirit to teach us to understand this and all prophecies rightly.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; The battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.’

If you look up those verses in Zechariah chapter 9, you’ll see that they’re sandwiched between other prophecies about judgment and salvation. But verses 9 and 10 are specifically about the coming Christ, and we have the Holy Spirit’s own interpretation of those verses as applying directly to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

All this happened in order that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘See, your King comes to you, meek and riding on a donkey, and on a colt the foal of a donkey.’”

God refers to His Old Testament people as “daughter of Zion” and “daughter of Jerusalem.” It’s a tender way for God the Father to refer to His people, as His beloved daughter, as the Bride who is being prepared for His Son, for Christ, the Bridegroom. 500 years before Jesus was born, God spoke through the prophet Zechariah, announcing the coming of His Son, Jerusalem’s King, to Jerusalem, “meek and riding on a donkey.” This prophecy doesn’t include anything about judgment, nor does it include anything about the King’s glory. On the contrary, He’s called “meek.” Nothing is mentioned about war or destruction. A donkey wasn’t an animal fit for war; it was a farming animal, a sign of the King’s humility in this advent.

And that’s exactly how Christ came to Jerusalem at His first advent: meek, lowly, and humble, “righteous and having salvation,” as Zechariah added. Later that week, the Christ would meekly allow Himself to be betrayed, and arrested, and beaten, and judged, and condemned, and tortured, and crucified, with no hint of refusal or of retribution. Zechariah doesn’t mention that in chapter 9, but he does mention it in chapter 11. That’s where we hear about the handsome price of 30 pieces of silver for which the Christ would be sold by one of His disciples. And in chapter 12, where we hear of the Christ’s crucifixion and death.

Why did He come the first time in such humility, to endure shame and suffering and death? Because that was the price of salvation for Jerusalem—and for the world! As Jesus says in John chapter 3, God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Mankind’s biggest problem isn’t the injustice in the world, and the violence that men do to one another. Mankind’s biggest problem isn’t the climate. Mankind’s biggest problem isn’t sickness or even death. Our biggest problem is that our sins had alienated us from the God who gives life. And because of that, there was no hope of anything better, even in the future—no hope of fixing the world, no hope of fixing ourselves, no hope of life beyond death. So the Christ had to come, the first time, to take our sins upon Himself and suffer for them and die for them. He had to come, the first time, to call sinners to repentance and faith, to send out His apostles into the world to preach the Gospel, to use this time in between His first and second comings to gather a Church from all the nations, to bring His salvation to the ends of the earth.

That’s what Zechariah was talking about in the rest of his prophecy in chapter 9: I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; The battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth. That prophecy, the next verse after the prophecy about Jesus’ Palm Sunday ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, was never fulfilled in a literal way. Never has war been cut off from Jerusalem and from the land of Israel. It has always been a place of fighting and contention. Never has Christ spoken peace to the nations literally. He never even went, in person, to the nations of the world. Never has Christ had earthly, visible, literal dominion over the whole earth. So what is Zechariah talking about?

He’s talking, first and foremost, about the atonement that Christ would make through His death. He’s talking about the proclamation of the Gospel of peace which Christ sent out into all the world, to be preached to all the nations. He’s talking about the dominion, the reign of Christ over the whole earth, that He would carry out, not visibly, but invisibly, as He sits as the right hand of God the Father. Even now, the King continues to bring that message of peace and reconciliation with God to all nations through the preaching of the Gospel, through the work of His Spirit, through the ministry of His Church.

But, as so often is the case with those Old Testament prophecies, there is another fulfillment of it coming further down the line at Christ’s second coming at the end of the age. Then the chariot will be cut off from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be cut off—no longer talking about the literal land of Israel, but about the Church of Christ throughout the world. Then He’ll bring perfect peace to His whole Church, and He will reign over all things in a new heaven and a new earth.

Next Sunday, we’ll focus on Christ’s second coming in glory, and on the signs leading up to that advent. That’s the advent we’re waiting for, preparing ourselves for. But for today, rejoice in the first advent of Christ the King. To those in Israel who had been eagerly waiting for the King to come to Jerusalem, it was a day of fulfillment, a day to wave palm branches and sing, Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! —a quote from Psalm 118, tying Jesus’ arrival together with other prophecies of the coming Christ.

As for us, we live in the age in between advents. The King has already come, and yet He is still coming again. Atonement has already been made for the sins of the world. The Gospel of peace is going out right at this very moment, calling sinners to repentance while there’s still time. The King hasn’t yet come to judge. He hasn’t yet come to destroy. He hasn’t yet come to end our time of grace. Right now, in this moment, there is still time, for anyone and everyone, to be saved. The King first came to save the world, and that is still His desire, that all men should come to repentance, that all should come to Christ’s beloved Christian Church during this time between His advents, and that those who come to His Church should remain in His Church, with a steadfast faith, with purity and works of love, with a readiness to suffer for His name, and always with an eye toward His second coming. The King first came to save the world. The King is coming again to save the Church from the world. So celebrate His first advent, and prepare for His second, so that you may always be found within His Holy Christian Church, prepared to worship the King when He comes. Amen.

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Jesus is coming! Come to the Lord Jesus! Come, Lord Jesus!

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 27

Revelation 22:7-21

In these final verses of the Book of Revelation, the Holy Spirit ties it all together for us—the encouragement to Christians to lead holy lives in this world and to persevere through the dark days of the end of this world, the assurance of Jesus’ coming, the invitation for sinners to come to the Lord Jesus and to remain with Him until He comes, and the encouragement to patiently but eagerly wait for the coming of the Lord.

“Behold, I am coming quickly!, Jesus says. You wonder how the Christians at the end of the first century interpreted that promise. They probably took it to mean that Jesus would come back within the next few months or years. They probably didn’t expect that Jesus’ coming would be delayed another 2,000 years. But that’s okay. The promise made them ready in the same way that it makes us ready. It gave them what they needed to know about the times ahead, even as it gives us what we need to know. It forced them as it forces us to trust in God’s timing and in God’s providence and in His interpretation of what “quickly” ought to mean. If we leave the present and the future up to God to govern, then this promise still holds all the comfort God intends for His people, because even if He delays His coming a little while longer, He cannot break His promise to come quickly, as He defines quickly for our good.

Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. It’s good that we’ve taken the time to walk through Revelation. It has always been God’s will for His Church to study and to learn from this book, and He promises a blessing for those who hear it and take it to heart.

Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. (or better, Be careful! No!) For I am your fellow servant, and of your brothers the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” To us, it’s somewhat confusing as we read John’s words, because it’s hard to tell if it’s the angel talking or if it’s Jesus talking. (If you have a red-letter edition of the Bible—red to indicate which words are spoken by Jesus—they don’t all agree on which words should be in red!) But even when it’s Jesus talking to John, it’s really the angel conveying the words of Jesus. To John, that was clear; it was an angel standing before him, not the Lord Himself. And yet he tells us that, after hearing and seeing such great things from this angel, he thought it was appropriate to bow down to the angel in veneration. But the angel warned him not to, to worship God alone and to recognize the angels as fellow servants of the apostles, of the prophets, and of all the members of God’s holy Church.

And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.” Publish the words of this book, so that all may know about the things that are coming, so that the world may be warned and the Church may be prepared.

He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. He seems to be talking about the status of people after all the prophecies of Revelation have been fulfilled, their status after the Last Day. After the Last Day, people will be confirmed, either in their unbelief or in their faith, either in their unrighteousness and filthiness or in their righteousness and holiness forever. It’s hard to imagine now, but in eternity you won’t have to worry about falling back into temptation and sin. The wicked who are cast into hell will be wicked forever, and the righteous who are welcomed into heaven will be righteous forever.

And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. There’s Jesus speaking again. Another promise to come quickly, with the added promise to reward the righteous when He comes. Obviously those whose works are evil will be rewarded with evil. But to those who are righteous by faith in Christ, their righteous works will also be recognized by the Lord, and that should spur us on to carry out all His commandments, including His commandment to endure suffering without losing hope, to bear the blessed cross joyfully, in service to Him who will reward us when He comes.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. Here’s another “I am” statement from Jesus. It was the apostle John who recorded all of them in the Gospels. So, too, he records this “I am” statement. I am the Alpha and the Omega—the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. No matter how out of control this world appears, Jesus was there before the world was, and He’ll be standing at the end, too, while all His enemies are forced beneath His feet.

Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. Not that anyone earns a right to eternal life by keeping God’s commandments. But, those who are justified by faith in Christ Jesus will take seriously the blessing Jesus pronounces on them for keeping His commandments, and that blessing will propel them toward obedience. If it doesn’t, if so-called believers aren’t seeking to obey Jesus’ commandments, then they show that their faith is a sham, while the faithful will seek to do His commandments and will be welcomed into the City of God with open arms, through open gates.

But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. That describes everyone else, everyone who has not repented and believed in the Lord Jesus. John mentions a few specific and obvious sins that keep people out of Christ’s kingdom: sorcery, sexual immorality, murder, idolatry, and living according to lies and not according to the truth. Look around you in the world! Aren’t these very things overtaking the societies of the world? Those who fail to repent will be banished forever from the presence of God and of His people.

“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” Another “I am” statement from Jesus and a reference to a prophecy about the Christ in Isaiah 11. It’s a reference to His royalty which is both human and divine, inherited both from King David in time, and from God the Father from eternity.

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. I’ll admit, I used to understand this verse differently. The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!” And I always thought the Spirit and the Bride were talking to Jesus, asking Him to come, and to come soon. But they aren’t talking to Jesus here. The Spirit and the Bride, that is, the true Christian Church, are calling out to sinners, to anyone and everyone who hears, “Come! Come to the Church of Jesus Christ! Come to the heavenly banquet that He is preparing for you!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” That is, let the one who has come to the feast, who has believed in Christ, go on to invite other sinners to “come.” Just as Jesus invited “all you who labor and are heavy laden” to “come to Me,” so He now invites everyone who thirsts and everyone who wants the water of life to come and receive it freely from Him, in His Christian Church on earth, while there’s still time.

For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. A stern warning from the Lord Christ, isn’t it? It applies directly to the book of Revelation, and it’s a sobering condemnation of the Millennialism that is taught so commonly among Evangelicals, where they add teachings about a rapture, and a coming of Christ to this earth prior to His coming at the Last Day, and an earthly reign of Christ before the Last Day. But it’s a warning to all of us to treat God’s Word as something sacred, to listen to it, to believe all of it, and to interpret all Scripture in context, or else forfeit our place in the City of God. That’s how serious He is that we keep His doctrine pure!

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints. Amen.

What a fitting way to end the Church Year! What a fitting way to end the Bible! God saw to it that this Book of Revelation was not only written and published but that it was written as the last, or at least one of the last books of the Bible and was placed at the end of the Bible, so that the whole thing ends on this note. The same Jesus whose coming was prophesied in the first book of the Bible, whose first and second coming were prophesied throughout the Old Testament, whose first coming to make atonement for sin was described in the Gospels, whose teachings were explained and spread in the Epistles, now leaves His beloved Church, His Bride-to-be here on earth, with a final word to get us through the rest of this time leading up to the great wedding day: “Surely I am coming quickly!” And the Church, the Bride, calls back to our heavenly Bridegroom, “Amen! Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” And then the apostle chosen by Jesus to record this message utters one final message: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints. Amen. And Amen.

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Fueling your faith for the long wait

Posted on November 26, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Trinity 27

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

We’re waiting for the Last Day, as Jesus told us to do—waiting for Him to come back, although He hasn’t told us when it will be. Last week in the Gospel, Jesus pictured the Last Day for us as a day of judgment, when the Lord will highlight the good works done by His people, for His people, and the lack of good works done by unbelievers for His people. But the verses of today’s Gospel actually come before those verses, and with good reason: today’s Gospel doesn’t highlight our works at all. It highlights our faith, which is where the works come from in the first place. It highlights our faith, and the necessity of preserving it, fueling it, all the way up until the Bridegroom’s arrival, even if our wait for the Bridegroom is long.

Then the kingdom of heaven—that is, the Christian Church—will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. The Church will be like a group of virgins—girls who are keeping themselves pure for their future husbands, just as the Church keeps herself pure for her Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus, by avoiding all forms of idolatry and willful sin. The virgins’ task is to sit out near the road and wait for the bridegroom to come by, and then to join him with the light of their lamps for the final leg of his procession to the wedding hall. It’s not a practice we’re familiar with in our culture, but it was obviously common enough at Jesus’ time for this parable to make perfect sense to the hearers. They say, in that culture, the bridegroom would pick up his bride along the way and that the two would go together to the wedding, accompanied by these virgins with their lamps. But Jesus’ parable doesn’t include the bride, and maybe that’s because of how confusing it would be to consider the Church, which is the Bride of Christ, separately from the individuals who make up the Church, represented by the ten virgins. In effect, the ten virgins in our Gospel make up the Church and are all supposed to go in with the Bridegroom, into the wedding hall, into eternal life. But not all end up going in with Him.

All ten virgins are invited. The Gospel invitation has reached them. “Repent and believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, crucified and risen from the dead and coming again!” Now, we know that many who hear the Gospel invitation turn it down. They spend their lives refusing to repent of their sins, refusing to look to Christ for forgiveness. We aren’t talking about them here. We’re talking about sinners who hear the Gospel and believe it, who make a beginning within the Christian Church. They have been baptized. They walk in communion with the Holy Christian Church. And they’ve all been given a task. Watch! Watch for the coming of the Bridegroom! Be ready to greet Him when He comes! Let that be the overarching goal of your life, to watch and be ready, because He will surely come, and He’ll come at a time, at an hour, that no ones knows.

Also, we’re not talking about those who might be called “nominal Christians,” the people you meet on the street who may say, (if you ask), “I’m a Christian,” but who never darken the doorway of a Christian church. No, these are the ones who actually go out to meet the Bridegroom and wait for His coming—at least for a while. They believe in Him. They believe He’s coming again. And they’re all eager to meet Him and to go in with Him. In other words, Jesus is talking about people like us in this room.

What’s the difference between the five wise and the five foolish, then? The five wise virgins think to themselves, “You know, He told us He’s coming tonight, but He didn’t tell us at what time. In fact, He told us He might be delayed. It might be late. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to bring along enough oil to last late into the night, in case He doesn’t come early, at 7 or 8? Wouldn’t it be smart to make preparations, not only for an early arrival, but also for a midnight arrival? That way, we’ll be ready, no matter when He comes.”

The five foolish virgins didn’t think, didn’t listen when the Bridegroom informed them that He might come late in the evening. They went out to wait for Him, figuring He would come soon—soon by human reckoning, soon enough that they wouldn’t need extra oil for their lamps, at least.

But what does it mean to bring along extra oil for their lamps? And what is that burning flame that they must all have in order to accompany the Bridegroom into the wedding hall? The burning flame is faith. Faith in Christ crucified and risen again, faith in Christ as the Savior from sin, faith in Christ as the sure refuge against wrath and condemnation, faith in Christ for the free-of-charge forgiveness of sins. It’s more than a knowledge of Christ. It’s a genuine reliance on Him, true confidence in Him and in Him alone, that for His sake alone, God will show mercy to you, who deserve only His wrath and punishment. Today’s Gospel gets at the heart of the matter, the source of the good works, and the actual thing by which we are justified before God and so permitted to enter His kingdom: faith.

But as Jesus warns in our Gospel and in the rest of Scripture, faith is not and has never been self-sustaining. The Holy Spirit kindles it in our hearts through the Word of God and brings us to trust in Jesus for entrance into His eternal kingdom. Faith comes by hearing! But if it’s then left alone, it will die out, like any flame will eventually die out if it’s not given the fuel it needs to keep burning.

That fuel, the oil for the lamps, the spiritual milk that sustains and feeds our precious faith is the Word of God—the Word as it’s read, as it’s preached, and taught, and spoken in connection with water and bread and wine, according to Christ’s command; the Word as it’s then meditated upon and pondered.

The wise virgins are the Christians who make wise use of the Means of Grace now, while it’s available to them, as much as it’s available to them. They use the ministry of the Word regularly, and as they do, their faith sends down roots that grow deeper and deeper. Their knowledge of God, and of His workings in the world, and of His plan of salvation grows richer and richer. Their understanding of their enemies—the devil, the world, and their own sinful flesh—grows keener and keener. And their ability to stand in the face of hardship, trial, persecution, and opposition grows stronger and stronger. You will need all those things in order to endure the last times of this world before the Bridegroom comes. And they only come from the ministry of the Word. How much strength and knowledge and understanding and faith will you need to make it another year? Another ten years? How about 20 or 30 or 80—to make it all the way to the end, holding onto Christ by faith? The answer is, as much as possible. As much as the Lord provides. Even if you think you have a pretty strong faith now, it’s wise to make as much use of the ministry of the Word as possible, while you still can.

Just as it’s unwise not to. The foolish virgins are the Christians who think they stand firm. Who may be very excited, at first, to hear the Gospel, to have been baptized, to learn the Catechism, to receive the Lord’s Supper. They see the filthiness of the world and they’re ready for Jesus to come back. But then He doesn’t. And they keep waiting. And He doesn’t come. And so, instead of continuing steadfastly in the use of the Means of Grace, they come to church less often, and when they do come, they listen half-heartedly, or not at all.

And so plays out the tragedy. So many around the world don’t have ready access to the pure preaching of the Gospel or the right administration of the Sacraments. But many who do, take it for granted and don’t use it—even though they’ve been warned! They foolishly assume that what they already have in their lamps will be sufficient to keep their lamps burning when the Bridegroom finally comes.

But that’s not how it turns out in Jesus’ parable. The cry came at midnight, Look! The bridegroom is coming! Go out to meet him! And only the five wise virgins, who had brought along extra oil, had enough left to keep their lamps burning. Only those Christians who will have used the opportunities the Lord will have provided to fortify their faith along the way will be able to meet Him and to enter eternal life with Him. The five foolish virgins found that their supply of oil was running out. It was insufficient. And it was too late to do anything about it. Those Christians may try running to those who sell oil, to the ministers of the Word who might yet preach the Gospel to them. But when Christ finally does comes down from heaven, He tells us ahead of time, that, at that time, there will be no more time, no more chances, no keeping the dying flame of faith alive, and thus no entrance into eternal life, only the bleak reality of the Lord’s answer, Truly I tell you, I do not know you, followed by an eternity spent in outer darkness—the same fate as all those who never believed in the first place.

Half of the ten virgins don’t make it all the way to the wedding hall. Is it possible that half of those begin as devout Christians won’t end up in the eternal kingdom of God? It’s a sobering prospect, at least. But the fact that you’re here listening to the Word of God, if you are listening, means that it isn’t too late. Jesus sends out this warning, and sends His Holy Spirit to bring it home for us. And by the very act of listening to it, pondering it, considering it, you are adding a little more oil to your reserves, so that you can last a little while longer as you wait for Christ to come.

Take advantage of these opportunities to add extra oil—as many opportunities as you’re given, because you don’t know how soon or how late Christ is coming, and you may need every bit of strength from His Means of Grace that’s He’s provided you with in order to make it to the end. Never take what you have for granted, because there are Christians all around the world who would give every last penny to be where you are, to have the access that you have to the ministry of the Word. Learn the Bible. Learn the Catechism. Learn the Christian Confessions contained in our Book of Concord. Learn it a little better in the coming Church year than you did in this past year. As Paul wrote in today’s Epistle, Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, in order that, whether we are awake or asleep, we should live together with him. Amen.

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Give thanks for the eternal goodness and mercy of God!

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Thanksgiving

Revelation 22:1-6

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. For His mercy endures forever. We chant that Psalm verse every Sunday at the close of the Eucharist, the great Thanksgiving that is the Lord’s Supper. We give thanks to God multiple times in the Sunday service. And in our regular Wednesday service. And, hopefully, you’re giving thanks to God in your hearts and in your homes every day, before every meal and throughout the day, because God is the Source and Giver of every meal, every breath, every heartbeat, every thing.

So the national holiday of Thanksgiving really shouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary for the Christian, except for the opportunity it gives to some people to take a break from work or school and gather with family or with loved ones. But we’re glad to take another opportunity to gather as Christians and to turn our hearts heavenward, toward our merciful and generous God, to say together: Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. For His mercy endures forever.

Only Christians can give thanks to God, because only Christians truly know His goodness—the goodness of the God who has not only given life and breath to all creatures, but who so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son. Only Christians, the people of God, know how to reach God with our thanks and praise in a way that He will acknowledge, in a way that He will accept. Because, as Jesus said, No one comes to the Father except through Me.

And so let us give thanks to God for all His goodness and mercy to us here in this life, first and foremost, in giving His Son into death for our sins, in finding us with His Gospel, teaching us the truth about all things in His Word, and bringing us to Baptism and faith, bringing us into His family and into His covenant of the forgiveness of sins for Jesus’ sake.

Then let us give thanks to God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—for His goodness and mercy in temporal blessings: family, food, clothing, shelter, human society, relative peace and freedom, for our church family (near and far), for a place to worship, for Word and Sacrament, and for opportunities to serve our neighbor and our fellow Christian; for all God’s promises and for the dependability of them; for God’s mercy and goodness in His works of providence and preservation.

All these things we’ve been given here in this life. But this evening we want to focus a little bit on the goodness and mercy that will follow us into the next life, in the New Jerusalem, where we will live after the Last Day and the final judgment have come.

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

John is still describing that city of God, the New Jerusalem that will come down out of heaven from God, the city that, as we saw last week, is described as being larger than the state of Texas. In it, he sees a river. That sends us back to Psalm 46: There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. There was never a literal river flowing inside Jerusalem. This was always a picture of the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, bringing life to the people of God from the Father and from the Son. On earth, the Spirit worked through Word and Sacrament, bringing God’s life to sinners, as Jesus promised the woman at the well. Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. But in the new city of God, the Holy Spirit will bring life directly to the inhabitants of the city. It’s pure and clear water, a picture of perfect cleansing, perfect truth, perfect sustenance, perfect providence, perfect joy, perfect life. It’s not a pond or a pool, which could dry up or not be enough, but a river continually flowing from the Father and from the Son, from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month.

The tree of life. We haven’t heard of it in the whole Bible since back in the beginning, in the Garden of Eden. There stood the tree of life, in the middle of the garden, waiting for its fruit to preserve the life of mankind on the earth forever. But the purpose of the tree of life was never realized on earth. God barred Adam and Eve and their children from the tree of life and guarded the entrance to it after they fell into sin, because, from that time on, all men were destined to die.

But all of that will be reversed in the new City of God. The trees stand both in the middle of the street and on each side of the river, life-giving trees surrounding a life-giving river. It bears twelve fruits, with each tree bearing its fruit every month, that is, twelve times a year. Twelve, again, being the number of the Church. There is plenty of life for everyone here. God will sustain the life of His people continually, forever. And all the wounds we took in this life, whether physical, or mental, or spiritual, will be healed there. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

And there shall be no more curse.

No more curse. A curse was pronounced on the earth after the fall into sin. Death and decay were part of it. No longer walking with God visibly and openly, as Adam and Eve did before the fall, was another part of it. Then there were all the curses of the Law of Moses, spoken against Israel under the Old Testament. When they entered the promised land of Canaan, both blessings and curses were pronounced. Blessings dependent on their obedience to the covenant, and curses in the event of their disobedience. In the new Promised Land, the new Garden of Eden, it will be much different. There will be no more curse. No death or decay, no punishment, no disobedience, no separation from God. The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.

They shall see His face.

God said to Moses on Mt. Sinai, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” That will all change in the new city of God. Everyone there will be able to see God’s face—not that we can even imagine what that will be like. We will get to know God in a way we can’t know Him here on earth. And His name shall be on their foreheads, God will proudly claim the citizens of that city as His own, and they will gladly carry around the name of their God.

There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light.

Now, night itself isn’t evil, and darkness itself isn’t bad. It was part of God’s good creation. But night, after sin entered the world, is when people stumble because of the darkness, when people get lost because they can’t see. Night is when sinners like to use the cover of darkness to indulge in sin. Night is the time of danger, when the innocent are the most vulnerable. But not in the new City of God. There will be no night nor lack of light. No more time of danger, no more time of ignorance and being unable to see. Because God will be the light of the city, driving out all danger, all evil, all sin, and all ignorance, shining with a light that does no harm, but that only heals.

And they shall reign forever and ever, as kings and queens of the new creation.

Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.

That’s why we can give thanks for it, even though we haven’t yet entered the new city in the new creation, because these words are faithful and true. All the good things promised here are guaranteed by the word of the God who cannot lie and who never deceives. All of this is really waiting for you in the city of God just on the other side of Christ’s coming.

And so let us give thanks to God for all His goodness and mercy here, and for the goodness and mercy that He has promised in the new creation to all who remain faithful unto death, the goodness and the mercy that will accompany us forever and ever and ever. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever. Amen.

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Jesus is keeping track of how people treat His brothers

Posted on November 19, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Trinity 26

2 Peter 3:3-14  +  Matthew 25:31-46

We’ve heard a lot about the Last Day in our journey through the book of Revelation on Wednesday evenings, where God teaches us about it in several different pictures. To summarize the events of that day: it will come suddenly, when people aren’t expecting it—though Christians should always be expecting it, knowing, at least in the back of our minds, that it could come at any time. All those who have died will be raised from the dead with new, immortal bodies. Those who are alive, who haven’t died, will be changed and will be given immortal bodies. Those who believed in the Lord Jesus in this life will be gathered to Him in one place. And the rest of mankind will also be gathered together in one place. The final judgment will be pronounced. The heavens and the earth will be destroyed with fire. A new heaven and a new earth will be created. The wicked will go away to eternal punishment, and the righteous to eternal life. That’s a summary of the Bible teaching about the Last Day. And it’s something God warns His people to be ready for, as the main future event we’re preparing for.

Jesus tells His disciples about one little piece of the Last Day in today’s Gospel, painting a picture of the judgment part of the Last Day. It doesn’t describe every detail of the judgment that will be pronounced or everything that led up to that judgment. Instead, it focuses on just one aspect of human behavior that God is keeping record of and that God will reveal on that day. Jesus is keeping track of how people treat His little brothers.

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.

Jesus spoke these words just days before He was crucified. In a few days’ time His disciples would see him hanging from a cross in shame and apparent defeat. But the shame would be short-lived. And on the Last Day, when He finally returns to the earth, it won’t be in shame or defeat of any kind. It will be as the glorious King of this universe. And instead of standing before a judge, as He stood before the Jewish Sanhedrin and Pontius Pilate on Good Friday, Jesus will return as the Judge of all mankind.

Now, if you have a New King James Bible with section headings, this is one of the places you have to watch out for. The heading that the editors chose to place over these verses is, “The Judgment of the Gentiles.” What, do they think there will be a separate judgment of the Jews? Nowhere does Scripture say that. No, the word “Gentiles” is the same word in the Greek as “nations.” All nations will be gathered before Jesus and immediately separated by Him into two groups. Those whom He places on His right are the favored ones, and those whom He places on His left are the disfavored ones.

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.”

King Jesus will invite those on His right to inherit a kingdom, the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. There’s a lot here. Notice, first, He says, “Inherit!” That affects everything that follows. He doesn’t say, “the kingdom is your reward for all the good things you’ve done, which I’m about to list.” It’s an inheritance. The ones on His right did not earn a place in heaven by their good works. They simply showed themselves, by their works, to be children of God. Now, the only way in Scripture to become a child of God is through faith in Christ Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer, who gave His life on the cross to make atonement for our sins, and who received us into His Father’s family through Baptism and faith.

Notice, too, that this kingdom was prepared for them from the foundation of the world. In other words, these are the chosen people, the ones whom God chose or “elected” in eternity, before the world began, to be adopted as His children and to inherit His kingdom. As the rest of Scripture makes clear, God knew in eternity that mankind would turn away from Him toward sin. But He planned in eternity to send His Son to redeem all mankind. He planned to have the Gospel preached, and to work through the Gospel to bring sinners to faith, to justify believers and to sanctify them in love. It’s that sanctification in love that Jesus goes on to recount to these on His right.

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. This comes as a surprise to those on the King’s right, because the vast majority of them lived on earth when Jesus wasn’t living on earth. Even those who were alive at the time of Jesus didn’t do all these things for Him directly. But He clears up their confusion. Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these my brothers, you did for me.

One of the main things Jesus commanded His disciples to do was to “love one another.” And by “one another,” He meant your fellow Christians, your brothers and sisters in Christ. That’s what Jesus and the apostles almost always meant when they used the word “brothers,” those who became brothers of Jesus through faith in Jesus. As Jesus said, For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother. And the will of God the Father is that, first and foremost, all men should repent and believe in Christ Jesus and so become His brothers in the Father’s family. After that, the will of God is the sanctification of Jesus’ brothers, and, again, our sanctification is practiced above all in loving our brothers and sisters in Christ—loving them, not just in our hearts, but in tangible ways, simple ways, like giving food to the Christian who is hungry, a drink of water to a Christian who is thirsty, and so on. And it doesn’t have to be for an “important” Christian, but for the least of Jesus’ brothers. As He said in another place, whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple (that is, because he is a believer in Jesus), truly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward. Those who believed in Christ Jesus and showed mercy and love toward their fellow Christians will be recognized by Jesus on the Last Day, because He keeps track of how people treat His little brothers. He calls them the blessed ones of His Father. He calls them “the righteous,” righteous first by faith, and then righteous in how they lived in this world, especially in how they treated their fellow Christians.

Then there are those who didn’t end their life as children of God, but as unbelievers, as those whom the judge counts as unrighteous. Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Notice, first, that these on the King’s left are cursed. As St. Paul says, all who have sinned are under God’s curse. Or, I should say, all who have not been brought out from under the curse through faith in Christ. We all started out life under the curse. But, as Paul writes, 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. But all those in “the nations” who didn’t believe in Christ Jesus remain under the curse.

Also notice, the everlasting fire of hell wasn’t prepared originally for men, but for the devil and his angels. Because God’s purpose in eternity wasn’t to condemn sinners, but that all should come to repentance and to faith in His Son. But, since most people don’t believe in His Son, they will have to answer for their sins. They will taste that everlasting fire together with the devil, for whom it was originally prepared.

Now, the sins committed in the world are beyond measure; they can scarcely be recounted. But here Jesus doesn’t even mention any of the terrible, violent deeds done by men. He only mentions the good deeds that unbelievers failed to do for His little brothers, for His beloved Christians. 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. Jesus takes it personally when unbelievers fail to help His little brothers. Imagine how personally He takes it when they abuse, harm, ridicule, and falsely accuse His brothers! He wants us to know that He will hold all people accountable for all the mistreatment that we have suffered, as well as for all the good treatment we didn’t receive because we remained faithful to our big Brother, Jesus.

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

Now, if all that is true, if as Peter says in today’s Epistle, all things here, all things in this universe are destined for destruction by fire, if Jesus is really coming again to pronounce judgment on all mankind, and if He’s keeping track of how people treat His little brothers, then, as Peter writes, What sort of people ought you to be? You ought to practice holy living and godliness, awaiting and yearning for the coming of the day of God…Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, make every effort to be found spotless and blameless before him in peace. Work on this, above all things! Work on being found spotless and blameless before God when He comes to judge the earth. Work on behaving in the world like children of light and not like everyone around you who still lives in darkness. Work on treating your fellow Christians with love and respect at all times, remembering at all times that the King is keeping track of how people treat His little brothers. But as you work on those things, don’t put your faith in how well you’ve treated anyone. Put your faith only in the Lord Jesus, and eagerly wait for His coming! Amen.

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