WHO CARES??? .......God's People Care....

For the past few months we have been talking about neighboring at our church, learning ways to build relationships with the people God has placed around us for the sake of the Gospel. But what about the people who don’t live next door? Around our country and on social media, there has been a lot of talk about the Gospel and Social Issues that should cause us to think about some challenging questions such as: How should Christians react to foreigners and immigrants in need or in crisis? What should our attitude be toward the poor, homeless or hungry? What does the Bible teach about racism? How should we treat people who are sick? What about those who are locked up behind the bars of a jailhouse or prison? 

As you think about these things, please Read Matthew 25:31-46 ,where Jesus teaches about the Separation of the Sheep and the Goats. It should be easy to tell sheep apart from goats. They don’t look alike at all. In the same way, it should be easy to tell Christians apart from the world by the mercy, compassion and love that we show to those who are suffering, overlooked, rejected and in need.

There’s a Difference Between Sheep and Goats

Jesus begins this illustration by painting a vivid portrait of Himself sitting on His throne at the final judgement. Here he sits as the Good Shepherd, guarding the entrance to heaven in the same way a Shepherd guards the sheepfold, only allowing his own sheep to enter in.

Who do the sheep represent? CHRISTIANS. Why are sheep valued? What are they primarily raised for? WOOL. When a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, the sheep will be led away to be sheared and cleaned up. If you have ever been to the fair and watched them shear sheep, you know that when they are finished, the sheep are fresh and clean and their wool is bright and white. This should remind us of how God has promised to wash us clean, white as snow. What does that symbolize? FORGIVENESS OF SINS. The sheep’s old clothing is removed and it has a new coat. The Bible describes this as being robed in righteousness and clothed with garments of salvation. (Isaiah 61:10) The illustration of the sheep represents believers being forgiven, put in a right standing with God, having our old sinful nature sheared away, receiving glorified bodies and being allowed to enter heaven and enjoy God’s rest.

Who do the goats represent? Unbelievers or Unsaved people.  What are goats primarily raised for? Milk and MEAT. A milk goat would have been kept at home for supplying the household’s daily needs. Goats being brought in from the fields like these would have been raised for meat or sacrifice. Jesus depicts this type of goat as being led away to be slaughtered. During their lives on earth, shepherds feed, watch over and care for goats. This reminds us of the way that every blessing, food and good thing unbelievers enjoy in this life comes from God. What they fail to realize is that God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. There is a day of judgement coming when unbelievers will perish in the fire of God’s justice while by grace through faith believers will receive eternal life in heaven. We are reminded that since creation, from the very foundation of the world, God has lovingly planned this moment of blessing and reward for those who follow Him.

Now I have a question for you. Are any of us natural-born sheep? NO. Because all of us sin, we are all goats by nature, sinful and selfish. We are born again by the Spirit as sheep when we are saved. Who can be born again as a sheep, or child of God? Anyone who believes and places their faith in Jesus Christ. And when we are born again, there should be evidence of change in our lives.

Central Idea of Text

Jesus taught that his followers would be known for ministering to the needs of others and that a day of judgement was coming when they would be rewarded and the cursed would be punished.

Lesson Idea

As Followers of Christ, we should be known for ministering to people in need and a day of judgement IS coming when believers WILL be rewarded and unbelievers WILL be punished.

We should care for the needs of others because Jesus cares for their needs. In verses 35-46, Jesus emphasizes this idea, using repetition to draw the attention of his followers to six specific groups of people by mentioning them four times. He focuses on caring for the Hungry, the Thirsty, Strangers, those Without Clothing, the Sick and those In Prison. As His disciples, we should be known for ministering to those who are suffering, rejected by society or in need.

1. God’s People Care for the Hungry, the Thirsty and the Naked

           

The reason the tithe was established in the Old Testament was to care for widows, orphans, and strangers living among God’s people (Deut. 26:12, 10:18). Here we see that this is an important New Testament ministry as well. In fact, the first deacons, or ministers, in the New Testament were ordained for the purpose of making sure that widows received their fair share of food. (Acts 6:3)  But this isn’t just the job of a few individuals, all believers are called to the task, which Jesus expands to cover anyone in need. God cares for their well-being and has entrusted us with the service of meeting those needs. Tithing was the minimum requirement under the law to help care for the poor. Under grace, we should do so much more. What are some practical ways we can minister to the poor and hungry in our society? [discuss]  

To this day, I remember the deacons in my church giving out free, and very much appreciated, cups of water at the 4^th of July parade with Mark 9:41 on a sign: Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name.....shall not lose his reward. Growing up, the churches in our community formed a ministerial alliance to provide a food bank with non-perishable items which our church hosted. They also had diapers, baby formula, a closet filled with donated clothing, and a loan closet with various tools and items a person might need to borrow. That’s wonderful. But as individuals, we are called to minister as well. Sometimes you might feel the Holy Spirit urge you to give money to a specific person in need, buy them a meal or donate a sack of groceries. Perhaps you feel led to serve meals at a homeless shelter or make a specially designated contribution. The point is that we should care and if our heart is filled with the love of Christ, we will care.

           

The call to minister to those who are hungry, thirsty or in need of clothing has a double meaning, a Gospel meaning. Jesus also taught that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled. All people need to be clothed with salvation. We show how much we care for people by taking care of their physical needs but we must go beyond that to care for their spiritual needs, teaching them the Word of God and proclaiming the Gospel. Our compassionate care for the poor is a powerful way we can demonstrate the love of Jesus to them.

2. God’s People Care for the Sick

           

What are some practical ways we can care for the sick? Hospital visits come to mind. But what about giving a person a ride to treatment or holding their hand as they wait for news from the Doctor? We can’t all afford to pay for their medical bills, but we can babysit children while someone goes to the doctor and we can do housework, yardwork or barnyard chores for someone who is sick or injured and can’t do it for themselves. And most importantly, we can pray. We can join our faith together with other believers and pray in agreement for the sick to be made well and for God to give them comfort, strength, endurance and faithfulness.

To Visit the sick means to look in on someone and look after their well-being. We should all be on the look-out for people who are missing from worship and checking in on them to let them know we care. We can organize meals, write cards and letters, send encouragement and check in on their family members. We can show compassion and bring comfort and hope through Christ to the elderly or terminally ill. We can help raise funds for someone with insufficient health care who needs treatment. It doesn’t have to be hard, there are all sorts of ways to show that we care. To someone who is sick with the flu and living alone, even dropping off a can of soup with some crackers and Sprite can mean the world, as I can personally attest. Whatever the situation, we can offer people comfort, hope and the promise of perfect healing in heaven one day.

3. God’s People Care for Strangers

Who were the strangers in the first century? We know in the Old Testament that strangers or sojourners were foreigners who chose to live among God’s people and follow His laws. According to Leviticus 19:34, these people were to be loved and treated like native born Israelites. A stranger in the first century could have been a fellow Jew in need of a place to stay or a traveler in need of assistance, but throughout the Bible the term strangers usually refers to foreigners. We know that Jews did not associate with Gentiles. These words of Jesus are a confrontational call to end that practice for the sake of the Gospel. Who are the strangers in our society? [discuss]

A stranger might be a new person who has just moved to town, the new kid at school or a new church member. They might be an immigrant or refugee in need of assistance. It is our responsibility to show them the love of Christ.

I was forever impressed as a kid to see how my church dealt with strangers in need. One time, such a stranger came passing through town. Because of the dangers in our society, it might not always be possible to invite a stranger into your home around your children, but some men from our church got him a hotel room for the night and food and gas to get him safely on his way. In fact, our Pastor rarely gave people money, but he always had vouchers from local Christian business men for groceries, gas, diapers, formula and various other needs so that if anyone came to the church needing help, they could receive it in Jesus’ name, with a Gospel presentation of course.

What are some other groups of people who might be considered strangers? We should definitely remember college students far away from their families. Helping a student with a flat tire, inviting them to your home for a meal or a Holiday if they can’t go home, performing car repairs for free or even boarding a student in your home are all ways that you can reach out to them. Providing meals through the Baptist Student Union, care packages to new students in dorms or a free tailgate before a football game are all ways that we can connect with college students, help them find a new church home and keep/get them involved with the family of God in their new town. Hosting a get together such as a hayride in a positive Christian environment can have life-changing positive consequences for young adults.

Our church hosts English classes to help immigrants. We can all help with our attitudes and our online postings as well as our support for fair, kind and Christ-like treatment of immigrants and refugees.

Strangers, to the Jews, meant people of a different race or ethnic background. For us, showing kindness and hospitality to strangers means showing equality and brotherly love to all people. To a first century audience this meant sitting down to share a meal with Gentiles, sharing fellowship and accepting each other as equals made clean, worthy and accepted in Christ. To us, this means doing all we can to show dignity and respect to all of the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. We should be doing everything within our power to show all people the love of Christ. We can look out for the new person, inviting new community members into our home for a meal or taking them a pie just to say Hi. From sitting with the new kid at school and showing them around to sitting with the new couple at church and introducing them to our friends, we can give a loving welcome and reach out to invite the people in our community into our churches. There are many ways to help strangers. Those of us who are in Christ should empathize with their situation and do what we can to help.

4. God’s People Care for Prisoners

           

Let’s talk about ministering God’s grace to prisoners. In the New Testament we have seen cases of men who were wrongfully imprisoned and in need of ministry. We study examples of believers laboring in prayer to God for them to much avail, like the time the people gathered to pray for Peter and an angel showed up to miraculously lead him out of jail, rescuing him from Herod’s wrath. Psalm 33:5 tells us: He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD. God cares about those who have been treated unjustly. But in this passage, Jesus makes no distinction between guilty or innocent prisoners. The same God who loves justice is also the God who offers Grace. There is mercy and forgiveness at the cross for the very worst of sinners. Prisoners need the hope that comes through the good news about Jesus Christ. Clearly, this passage is a call for individuals and their churches to support and engage in prison ministry. The Gideons deliver Bibles to inmates. Our own Southwestern Seminary provides the opportunity to earn degrees while incarcerated. We can all pray for missionaries and others who have been wrongfully imprisoned. What are some other ways we can minister to prisoners? [discuss]

Are people in jail the only types of prisoners mentioned in the Bible? Who was Jesus talking about when He said “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed”? [discuss] Jesus did give blind people their sight, but He was also talking about those who are spiritually blind and in bondage and slavery to sin. It is our job as believers to preach the gospel and set the captives free, leading them to Jesus who can break the chains of sin. We help prisoners of all sorts find true freedom and a hope that can never be taken away by teaching them about the salvation offered through Jesus Christ.

A Time of Judgement is Coming

Three times, at the beginning, middle and end of this teaching, Jesus reminds us that a day of judgement is coming when the sheep will be separated from the goats, believers from unbelievers, the blessed from the cursed, the righteous from the unrighteous. Those in a right standing with God will enter into eternal reward in Heaven. Those who are not will be punished in the fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. Like a goat led off to the slaughterhouse, they will be cut off from the source of life forever. Kolasis, translated here as punished, is a form of the root word kolazo, the word for pruning a tree. It means unbelievers will be permanently cut off from God, eternally pruned from the tree of life. Like a branch that is cut from Abraham’s family tree, as an evil tree that is chopped down and thrown into the fire, sinners will be consumed by the flames. Scripture teaches that God alone is immortal, that we live, move and have our being, our very existence, in Him.  (1 Tim. 6:15-16, Acts 17:28). Jesus said: I am the vine, you are the branches, apart from me you can do nothing. Eternal life can only come from being connected to Jesus. To be cut off, severed from God completely and cast into the Lake of Fire is what He called the second death, the destruction of the soul (Matthew 10:28, Revelation 20:14). But there is good news. From the very foundation of the world, God designed a way for us to be grafted into Jesus’ family tree, reconciled and joined with Him. Jesus promised that He was going to prepare a place for us and that He would come back for us. Heaven is a place of eternal reward with infinite pleasures where we will experience fellowship with each other in the joy, love and peace of God’s Presence. So, how do we receive this reward?

Conclusion

Are these good deeds some sort of list that we must check off in order to enter heaven? NO. Of course not. We are saved by grace through faith. We are made right with God through our relationship with Christ, not through works so that we can’t brag about it. Jesus said that people will know us by our fruits. This fruit is the goodness and the good works that are produced by the Holy Spirit working in our lives. As believers, knowing that a time of judgement and reward is coming, we should have a sense of urgency for sharing the Gospel. It is easy to tell sheep apart from goats because they don’t look alike. In the same way, it should be easy to tell Christians apart from the world by the mercy, care, compassion and love that we show to people who are in need. God’s people clothe the poor, visit the sick, feed the hungry, quench the thirsty, welcome strangers and bring hope to prisoners. These good works are the natural overflow of a grateful heart that has been filled with the love of Christ.

There might be one of you here today that isn’t sure if you will be counted among God’s sheep at that great judgement. If you’ve never repented of your sins and asked Jesus to come into your life, to fill your heart with love and compassion and save you, then I urge you to do that today.

Maybe there is someone else here who would say you’ve known the Lord for a long time, but this morning, you realize that you’ve had an ungodly attitude or a lack of concern for those in need. I encourage you to examine yourself and your relationship with God and repent. Do acts of charity, where people are given something they didn’t earn, make you feel resentful? Isn’t that what Jesus did when He saved us?

Maybe you have expressed an unbiblical perspective toward immigrants or refugees. What about other strangers? Perhaps you harbor hatred toward foreigners, or mistrust for your brothers and sisters in Christ whose skin is a different tint than your own. Now is the time to repent of those sinful attitudes and start fresh.

I am always happy to discuss, share and pray with you about these things.

Jesus taught that when we feed someone who is hungry, provide clothes for someone in need, welcome a stranger, give a thirsty person a drink, visit prisoners or care for the sick, we have done those things for Him and when we refuse, we have rejected Christ Himself. When we accept the truth, that each person is created in the Image of God, worthy of dignity, honor, respect and a good faith presentation of the Gospel, it changes us, aligning our perspective with God’s will. How can we refuse to care for someone Jesus loved enough to die for? I encourage you to sit down with your family at home this week and talk about practical ways to reach out, offer a helping hand and show God’s love and grace to hurting people in our society by ministering to their needs. 

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray together. Father, Thank-you for the many ways you have blessed us and provided for us. Forgive us for the times we have failed to care for those in need. Help us to share with them from the blessings we have received. Lead us as we go throughout this week, help our attitudes to reflect your mercy and help us to look for opportunities to show your love and demonstrate your compassion. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.