A Righteous Heart Revealed

Sermon Series: LIFESTYLE COMPASSION: Extending your heart of Jesus to the least of these.
Matthew 25:31-46

October 7, 2007

Manuscript

Big Idea: Heaven is the inheritance for the one with a heart made righteous, as revealed through a loving, compassionate lifestyle extended even to the ‘least of these.’

Introduction of series:

As individuals, as we do our best to live our lives and make life work and cover all the bases and do our best to get our ducks in a huddle...it is very easy to get myopic on our own lives. When life gets full and busy and overwhelming there is a tendency to narrow the focus and tune out some major chunks of reality or life just to get through a particular season or life phase.

It’s similar in a church like ours. There are various seasons or phases that we navigate through where certain areas get our focus or certain priorities get our attention while other areas get set aside until a time when we are better positioned to come back to them and bring focus to them.

My sense for our church is that over the past 9 years that I have been here we have been in what you might call the adolescent years of our development. It has been important for us as a church in our 9-18 years of age to focus some key energies on filling out as a body...maturing... stabilizing...and establishing and getting rooted in healthy habits that will enable us to have a long healthy life as a church.

In these recent years you might say we have “filled out” our ministry efforts...and we have strengthened our facility, doing our best to position ourselves for an increase in fruitful ministry. God has been with us and promises to be with us as we humbly walk with him and seek him and obey him.

And as I look out over the next 5 years or so I am eager to experience what God has for us and how he will use the gains he has provided for our next season of impact. For sure, we have some additional internal maturing or development to work through, but, overall, my sense is that we are positioned better than ever, to be a powerful tool in God’s hands to touch and serve our community, our region and yes, even the world.

Jesus said, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:48).

By looking at how God has blessed us, I believe God wants to use us as a church to touch and serve and infect our community, region and world with the transforming love and compassion of Jesus. I don’t think he has started us and established us just for us to focus on us! He’s built you to use you for his good purposes...and he’s built us as a church to use us as his body to infect our community, region and world with his love and mercy, his compassion and truth.

That’s why I’m calling this series, LIFESTYLE COMPASSION: Extending your heart of Jesus even to the least of these. I’m not talking about just loving those who love you...I’m not talking about serving those who can turn around and return the favor. I’m talking about extending your Jesus transformed heart to those in our world...even to the least of these who having nothing to offer in return....the forgotten, the out of sight...the marginalized of our culture.

Today I want to take a look at a teaching of Jesus that sets the stage for this series. And over the next 5 weeks we are going to immerse ourselves in the Bible’s call for us to be God’s touch points to a hurting world. I believe this is going to be a challenging series for all of us. I really believe we all will be stretched and at times, uncomfortable.

I want to raise your awareness of the pressing needs right here in our community and region...the realities that many of us don’t see because we’re doing our best just live our own lives. I want to raise our awareness of the tragic global needs in places like Africa where hunger, disease and AIDS are needlessly prevailing. I want to raise your awareness of faith-based efforts that are ministering to these needs and talk about how we can extend our Jesus transformed hearts to even the least of these; those that are easily out of sight and therefore out of our minds.

During our series I’m going to challenge us to do a 24 hour fast as a church together and towards the end, I’m going to invite you to participate in a Walk for Food event to help raise resources and awareness for the El Dorado County Food bank. And on the final Sunday of our series, I’ve invited Phil Skellie to come and wrap up our series. Phil is the director of CAMA Services which stands for Compassion and Mercy Associates. It is the world relief arm of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Phil is going to show us how the Alliance is working to administer the truest mercy -- administering physical help along side spiritual help “to the least of these.”

[Transition] – Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 25:31-46. I want to try and set the stage for our next 5 weeks together.

This story is given by Jesus as he privately shares with his disciples a series of teachings related to the end times
In Chapter 24 Jesus teaches about some of the signs of the End of the Age when he will return. He lets them know that the Day and the hour are unknown to everyone except God the Father.
In the first part of chapter 25, through the parable of the Ten Virgins, Jesus stresses the importance of each one of us being prepared to meet Jesus the bridegroom. Five were foolish and were not prepared and they missed their wedding, you might say. But, the five wise ones were ready and had their affairs in order and when the Bridegroom came for them, they went with him.
IN the middle of chapter 25, through the parable of the talents, Jesus stresses that each of us will give an answer for how we used the blessings he gave us in our lives.

Then he comes to this story about what the judgment at the end of the age will be like. READ MATTHEW 25:31-46.

The first thing I want you to understand from this story is that...

Heaven is the inheritance for the one with a heart made right by Jesus (31-34).

There is a temptation at first read of this to think that Jesus is saying...outward acts of service is what counts...just do these types of “serving others” behaviors and they will make your righteous and heaven worthy. This is a near sighted interpretation and in fact, not Jesus’ intention. To properly understand Jesus here, we have to take into account many other things Jesus taught.

Always remember this: For Jesus...righteousness is never an “outside-in” type of thing. Righteousness is always an “inside-out” dynamic. Righteousness always comes from the inside-out, a heart transformed by the forgiveness and renewal of Jesus.

Titus 3: 4-7, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”

Romans 3:21-22, “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

Here’s what I want you to see: the people in the “sheep group” were not counted righteous because they did these things...what Jesus is saying is, these people did these types of loving compassionate things because their hearts were made righteous and they were living out the “Jesus way” of loving others.

It’s a mistake to interpret this teaching to mean that one is saved based solely on works of social service. And that what Jesus is really calling us to here is a kind of social gospel. The church over the years seems to have swung back and forth from one extreme to the other in regards to the proper place and proportion of effort which is to be given to meeting the physical needs of the people around her verses meeting their spiritual needs. Based on texts like this one, some have argued that the church should only be meeting physical needs relying on God to use the kindness shown to draw them to Him. In reaction to this, many have stressed the position that the Church’s role is meeting spiritual needs and meeting physical needs is only a distraction and a dilution of our central call and therefore should be left to other agencies.

[Transition] - The way I see it is, the truth is somewhere in the middle. To me, the answer lies in the genius of the “AND.” A heart made right by Jesus will become compelled to extend the love and compassion of Jesus to others...regardless of their need.

The heart made right by Jesus will extend through a loving, compassionate lifestyle to even “the least of these” (35-46).

The heart that has been made righteous by Jesus and that has been captured by his Spirit will be characterized by a loving and compassionate lifestyle. The righteous hearts in this text have revealed themselves to be fully devoted followers by their selfless love and compassionate style extended to others. Their way of life which extended to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, help the stranger, cloth the naked or visit those who were sick or in prison all revealed that their hearts had been transformed by Jesus. These actions were proof positive that their hearts had indeed been made righteous by a personal relationship with Jesus.

The book of James helps us understand this: James 2:14-26 – “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do....

21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

The Apostle John, One of Jesus’ closest companions said, “Whoever claims to live in him {that is Jesus} must walk as Jesus did.” -1 John 2:6

The basis for judgment in our text this morning is a righteous heart...revealed by a lifestyle of extending a Jesus transformed heart to even the least of these. Jesus is rewarding those whose lives have been surrendered to him, those who were allowing his heart of love for people to be displayed through their lives. And this is all so close to the heart of Jesus that he makes the radical statement: “When you did it for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”

Application:

What does God want you to take away from this story?

Do you think you’d be in the goat herd or the sheep herd? Where do you want to be? Going from goat to sheep begins with a prayer asking God to be your Lord and Savior, your Leader and Forgiver. The difference between the goat type person and the sheep type person in this story is not just external feeding, hosting and visiting. The difference is a heart transformed by God’s grace, compassion and love to the point that you are compelled to extend grace, compassion and love to others, even to the least of these.

Going from a goat to a sheep in this story occurs as you allow the Spirit of God to fill you, cleanse you and transform you from the inside out with the life-changing love of God. Choose today to be in the “Sheep group” by telling Jesus something like this:

Jesus, I want heaven to be my inheritance. I need you to make my heart righteous by forgiving my sin and saving my soul. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and transform me so that I empowered to extend your transforming love to other...even the least of these.

Many of you have been walking with Jesus and growing in your understanding of him in your hearts and minds for years. Are you demonstrating this “sheep-like” heart in your lives? If you have been transformed in your life by the grace, compassion and love of God shown to you; are you allowing it to extend to “the least of these”? Would you be an obvious “sheep type” person?

I want to invite each of you to try something with me this week. This week, let’s try reading this passage of Scripture once each day. And if possible, read it in a different translation. If you only have access to one translation or paraphrase of the Bible, go online to bibleqateway.com or some other Bible website and try reading this passage once each day in a different translation. If you miss a day or two...no sweat; do it as many days as you can and let’s invite God to teach us as a church how we can develop Lifestyle compassion: extending our hearts for Jesus to the least of these.

Pray

Today we are going to celebrate communion as our closing response together. Communion calls us to remember that it is Jesus that makes our hearts righteous and fit for heaven. Let me just remind you that if your heart has been made righteous through faith in Jesus then you are invited to the table of communion. By receiving the tangible elements of communion you remember and celebrate the faith decision you made when you received him as your Lord and Savior, your leader and forgiver. Let’s remember his sacrifice and the inheritance of heaven it secures for us.