Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

Then the King will say to those on His right, "Come you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world". . . .And the King will say to them, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me." (vss. 34, 40)

As we approach the end of the Church year, our lessons focus our attention on the end times and the second coming of our Lord. Today we come to the second to the last Sunday of the Church year. It is called Judgment Day Sunday. When the topic turns to that climactic return of Christ and what he will do when he returns, we recall the familiar words of the Nicene Creed - He shall come again with glory, to judge both the living and the dead. Judgment Day, usually conjures up some rather frightful images of the terrible justice of the Lord: Many great artists and composers through history have portrayed that day with vivid strains of awe, reverence, and even fright. Rather than being a time when Christians, celebrate the return of their King, the thought of Judgment Day raises questions of doubt: I wonder how I will be judged? Will I make it? Such questions indicate that there is a lot of confusion about what Judgment Day means for Christians and the Church. On the basis of the words of Jesus in our text, lets explain.

From the standpoint of Christ and his Church, it might be better to call Judgment Day, recognition day - for that is exactly what it will be for the people of God. In this life, the Church has a rather shadowy existence. The question of just who are the real believers in Christ and how can you know has always been a rather problematic issue. Sometimes the matter has been put to Christians is a rather uncomfortable way. Has anyone ever put this question to you? If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Questions, like this one cause us to wonder about our own faith - its strength and its visibility - and we wonder, is it good enough? Is it strong enough? Will Jesus count me among his own when He returns? If a faith be true, does it have to be something that others can readily see? Many have thought so.

Perhaps some of you may remember the popular Christian youth group song from a few decades ago; They will know we are Christians by our love. This song did much to instill the idea that if Christians have a true faith that is alive, not dead; it just will be seen clearly by nonbelievers. This, however, is just not the case here on earth. While works of love are certainly visible here on earth, for which others may have cause to give glory to God, they do not reveal those who have true faith from those who may well be false believers or hypocrites. Jesus indicated in the parable of the weeds and the wheat, that even laborers in the Church are not in a position to make accurate judgments that would be able to separate the weeds from the wheat, the false believers from the true believers. Jesus told his disciples, I know my own and my own know me, and no one shall be able to snatch them out of my hand. He did not say that we all know one another.

What this means is that in this life, the people of God, the Church has a rather hidden quality about it. In terms of the who, it is hidden in this world. We can recognize and be clear on where the Church is but not who is in it. The Church is manifested by its Head. Christ is made manifest in his Gospel as it is preached and taught. But we members of His body the Church . . . we express our faith in prayer, praise and works of love . . . but the faith itself is hidden from others. It is known by each of us individually as we can search our own hearts and it is known by God who can directly see into the heart. For this reason, we say in the creed about the Church here on earth, I BELIEVE in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We see it only through the eyes of faith. Here in the world, the Church is hidden under a cloud of sinners. Others may certainly see that we are sinners as we confess to God before one another each Sunday morning. But what they cannot see is the righteousness of Christ that wraps us up in our baptismal covenant. They cannot see our adoption into the kingdom by water and the Word. So in this world, Christians have a rather phantom existence. Others, both in and out of the Church may see works and our confession, but not our faith directly. They cannot see that the works are done out of faith in Christ -- out of fear, love and trust in God. And that is what makes them good and acceptable to God.

But now, someday . . . someday its going to be different. Someday, the light will shine on believers in such a way that all will know that they belong to Christ. Someday it will be revealed who the true believers are. And that someday is what is being revealed by Christ in our text. It is Judgment Day. Judgment Day is not when believers can finally know if are truly children of God, its when everyone else gets to know. On Judgment Day, Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats, and all will be able to see, why each is on the side that Jesus has drawn. In this life the sheep and the goats, believers and unbelievers, are mixed in together in the world where we live, work and play . . . yes and perhaps where we worship also. We cannot make the judgments that would enable us to take the action of accurately separating the two camps. We cannot make accurate judgements. But on Judgment Day, we will. And that is what Judgment Day is all about. It is not a matter of Jesus finally making his Judgment of who will belong to Him. It is a matter of Him making manifest to everyone, believers and nonbelievers alike, who comprises his Church.

Notice how Jesus paints the scene. The believers are made manifest by the works that are done in service to Christ. Christians do good works of love, but so do nonbelievers. But only believers do works in faith in Christ out of fear, love and trust in God. It is this connection to Christ that makes them good and acceptable. This is what cannot be seen in this life, but what Jesus will make manifest to all on Judgment Day. Here he will enable us to finally make the judgment. The judgment of God was made of the cross for each one of us. We have been acquitted, pardoned. And in our baptism we have received adoption into his family and kingdom, wrapped in the robe of Christ’s righteousness. There is no doubt in God’s mind about each of us as belonging to him. But on Judgment Day, he will make it manifest to the whole of humanity just who his children are. And we will be able to make the judgment by works. The works will at that time show who belong to Christ. Then, they will know we are Christians by our love. Then, they will see our love of Christ and our service to Him that has been rendered through our neighbors. In this life they only see our service to our neighbors, then all will see that that service was ultimately rendered to Christ.

Judgment Day is discernment day. We are able to make the discernment. We will see the whole throng of God’s people by their service to Christ in the neighbor’s need. And what’s more, Jesus shows us that Judgment Day is the day that Jesus pulls a reverse. In this life, we honor Christ in all that we do. He gets all the glory in what we do. . . in our prayers, in our praise, in our thanksgiving, and in our works of faith that serve our neighbor, day in and day out. But on Judgment Day, Jesus is going to honor us. He will parade our works for all creation to behold. Just look at John, Mary, Pat, and Will. You know they are Christians. Just work at their works which have served Christ. And they will say the same about your works. They will shine like jewels in your crown of life. Just wait. Its coming soon. A-men.