“When
the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on
his throne in heavenly glory. All the
nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from
another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the
goats on his left.” – Matthew 25:31-33
Okay,
right away when I read this passage I must confess, I am hoping and praying I
get in with the group on the right – the sheep!
I mean really sheep have a much more pleasant appeal than goats, right? Images of sheep are pure, white, soft and
fluffy; while goats are dirty, grey, rough and ugly, plus they eat cans and
rags, yucky stuff like that. Who in
their right mind actually WANTS to be a goat? Nobody. So here is the big question, how do I make
sure I get in with the sheep on that day in the not so distant future??? Sunday’s message delivered by Brad Bledsoe
was the answer to that very question, “HE
must become GREATER and GREATER and I must become less and less.” But what exactly does that mean?
Reading
from the gospel of John, chapter 23, verse 30 – “He must become greater; I must
become less.” These words from John the
Baptist refer to his own personal ministry to prepare the way for the Messiah,
Christ Jesus. John knew his place as
being a mere human with only an earthly, limited understanding of the Heavenly,
but Jesus being God made in human form had complete and total understanding of
the Heavenly. John was sent to prepare
the way, to get the attention of the crowds so when Jesus appeared the people
would listen to the Word of GOD. Verse
28 of the same chapter of John says “I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of
him.”
Reading
further into Chapter 23 we find a more detailed description of what John the
Baptist is saying.
“The
one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to
the earth and speaks as one from earth. The one who comes from heaven is above
all. He testifies to what he has seen
and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. The man who has accepted it has
certified that God is truthful. For the
one whom God has sent speaks the words
of God, for God gives the spirit without limit.” - vs. 31-34.
So then
how can this help us learn the way to become sheep? We must first accept that Jesus is God, in
human form, sent to teach GOD’s WORD!
Believing in Jesus is not enough, even Satan believes in Jesus. We must be compelled and confess, beyond
doubt that Jesus is the one living Son of
God, who was sent to earth to take on our sin to the very point of death,
even death on a cross; so that we may live eternally with God. Without that basic foundation as a Christian,
we are certain to be cast in the lot with the goats. Good works alone does not get you into the
Kingdom of Heaven, you must surrender your life to Christ, acknowledging his
authority over you and everything created.
Yet the
question still remains, how do I make HIM greater and myself less? How do I get in the sheep group? The
answer lies within Jesus’ ministry. Throughout
his teachings, miracles, healing, praying, what is the one common “theme”
surrounding Jesus? SERVING! Jesus served the least, the lowest, the poor,
the sick & lame, he ate with sinners and was often seen with what our
modern-day society would call “poverty,” desperate people who were without
hope. Jesus did not look at a person’s
class, their brand of clothes, where they came from or their occupation. When he looked at people he saw right to their
heart. To make HIM greater, we must
serve in the same manner.
“Just
as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life
a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:28
“
. . .but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made
in human likeness.” – Philippians 2:7
Jesus came to this earth to be our
human example of how to serve others and in so by doing serve God. SERVE GOD!!
Those words echo in my head like a ringing in the ears after a rock
concert! Serving God is no passing hobby
to be taken lightly. God does not want
us to be luke-warm Christians who passively “serve” him by mere church
attendance, a weekly Bible study on occasion or showing up with some can goods
for the local food pantry. All of those
things are great and I encourage everybody to attend worship weekly, stay
active in the Word of God and by all means give to the needy. BUT (there’s always a ‘but’ in there), that
is not the service God has called us into.
Jesus did not walk this earth doing “just
enough” of God’s work to “get-by.” No, he went out into the villages of people
and met them where they were at!! And
that is what we are called to do as well, that is IF you want to become less so
HE can become MORE!! To see Christ in
you, you must become Christ to others. Do
people see the true action of Christ in you?
“And
now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your
God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul.” – Deuteronomy 10:12
“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep
your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Romans 12:11
From the
Old Testament to the New Testament we are instructed to serve God. In serving Him we bring the love of Jesus to
others, but also the glory to God!! The
more we serve the Greater and Greater HE becomes. We come smaller and smaller as Jesus shines
from us to others. And I am not just
talking about doing things for our own circle of friends, that’s easy. Taking a meal to a fellow church member and
taking a meal to a complete stranger who you have just learned has been laid
off their job and has 2 small children – THAT’S being Christ. By all means, continue to help those in your
church, but go above and beyond or in this case below and beyond. Spend time among those who REALLY need
Christ. The nursing homes and hospitals
where so many long for just a few minutes of love; take some flowers to a
patient who has no family around or even just stop and say “Hello.” As Brad mentioned in his message, ask the
attendants at a hospital which patients have NOT had any visitors, then go
visit those people. Paint at the
youth-center, volunteer to serve at the community dinner, reach out to the
people you work with by helping them on a task with an approaching
deadline. It doesn’t have to be time-consuming,
even just helping an elderly person load their groceries; surely you have at
least 5 minutes to be Christ to somebody!!
The more
you serve others, the easier it will become as well. Pretty soon you will find you are looking
forward to helping those who need it most.
Your kindness and GENUINE care for others will make Jesus shine and God
will be served through your acts of service.
Your actions will speak clearly the same thing your heart
believes!! How you live your life
reflects WHO you serve!!
“For
I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes
and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you
came to visit me. Then the righteous (the
sheep) will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or
thirsty and give you something to drink?
When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and
clothe you? When did we see you sick or
in prison and go to visit you?’ The King
will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of
these my brothers of mine, you did for me.’” – Matthew 25:35-40
Choose
to serve Christ each day and at the end when you stand before the maker, you
will pass the test and be gathered with the sheep on the right!!
Called
by Christ!
Amanda
