Come, You Blessed

Preaching Notes

Focus Text: Matthew 25:31-46

Are you as relieved to be here as I am? This is the parable by which many shape their understanding of discipleship. Some might argue that this teaching in Chapter 25 is the application of the Beatitudes in Chapter 5. It takes someone poor in spirit to serve the least of Christ’s brothers and sisters. It takes those who mourn the world's brokenness to want to serve those who are broken. It takes the meek to be willing to bend low enough to see those who are hurting. It takes … well, you can follow the pattern. It makes a compelling argument that Matthew and Jesus are bringing the story to its logical conclusion, or the most appropriate application.  

This passage seems to say what we know isn’t true: that we can earn our way into heaven by doing good works. But then, here is the king, Jesus in all his glory, with all his angels, telling us exactly that. Just do it. Just get out there and serve him by serving those who need—the least of these. And then, whether you realize it or not, you’ll be serving him. And you’ll get your reward.

Of course, you sigh, we knew that. Jesus wants us to get out there and help people. OK, right, get to it. Another responsibility, another task, another chore to get done. Work it into our busy schedules to make Jesus happy.

But saying it that way makes us realize we are still missing something. What is Jesus really asking for in this story? What are we supposed to understand? The goats missed it, but then you would expect them to; they’re goats, after all. But is it surprising that the sheep seem to have missed it too?  “When was it that we saw you hungry...?”  

Maybe their surprise is the point of the story. Jesus is saying that the goal is not to complete some task, like competing in a reality show, but to be the kind of person who loves as Christ loved, not because we’re supposed to, but just because we do. Christ wants us to give the gift of who we are, the loving, caring, giving person he has enabled us to become, or that we are becoming, since we are all in process. I suppose that is all anyone wants: the gift of ourselves—our better selves, our true selves, our Christ-like selves.  

This parable is not inconsistent with Jesus’ teaching all along. “What is the greatest commandment?” “Love God and love neighbor”  (Matthew 22:36-40). He couldn’t or wouldn’t separate love of God from love of neighbor. Our believing and our doing have to be two sides of the same coin. You can’t have one without the other. You can’t believe and have faith without acting on it. You can’t accept the saving power of Jesus Christ without being transformed into a servant of Christ. It is not just that good works are “nice”; they are essential. They are one and the same.

Some scholars argue that “the nations” that are gathered before the throne in this parable include everyone but those who are already followers. This parable, they argue, is the answer to the ubiquitous question, “What about those who haven’t come to believe in Jesus but still live Christlike lives?” If they served people, they served Christ, whether they realized it or not. Christ was at work in them, whether they realized it or not. Because, as he told us, without him, we can do nothing.

It seems more likely that with a beginning that states all the nations will be gathered, that we’re there too. Everyone is there. Judgment is not something we escape. But in this case, the judgment has already been made. “Come, you blessed” points to a prior relationship. A state of blessedness, we might say, already exists—maybe because of vows made and saviors claimed, or maybe because of behaviors that indicate the condition of the heart. Either way, the blessedness is claimed, pronounced, and, we might argue, experienced.  

What is this blessedness? How many times have you said or heard others say, “I got more out of that than I gave.” Often after a mission trip,  a shared activity of giving or caring or building or … whatever, there is a sense of something significant within the workers and the givers. That is the blessedness of which we speak. It is a sign of connection to God and to one another. It is what we were made for, this circle of caring, this sacrifice of loving beyond a commandment into a way of being. Come, you blessed and know what it is to love and to be loved.  

Rev. Dr. Derek Weber, Director of Preaching Ministries, served churches in Indiana, Arkansas, and the British Methodist Church. His PhD in preaching and media is from the University of Edinburgh. He has taught preaching in seminary and conference settings for more than twenty years.