Thoughts on the Final judgment

The following is an excerpt from a brief sermon I preached this past Sunday on the Final Judgement in Matthew 25:31-46,

What comes into your mind when you hear these passages? Do you see visions of God sitting on His royal throne separating the Righteous from the unrighteous? Maybe you get feelings of dread? Or are suddenly wondering if you’d be ready if God came back today? Today I wish to share with you a different vision of Judgment Day.

I spent much of the last year working in and with a relatively young church. During one of their outreach attempts to the youth of the area, they showed a short film left quite an impression on me.

The film started with the father of a typical American family leaving for work. His daughter gives him some licorice for a snack and he promptly puts it in his pocket. He also happens to be wearing a rather warm-looking coat. He drives along and is suddenly being hit by another car.
The next scene shows the same father now heading for a train station. He is now headed for either heaven or hell, I presumed. A conductor gave him a ticket and he headed for the train. Once he boarded, he found that there was homeless woman also aboard the train. Not really desiring to talk with her he takes a seat at a bit of a distance from her. The train started to move.

A little while later the woman appeared to be shivering and said, “Oh, dear. I’m quite cold. Could I borrow your jacket?”
“Sorry, ma'me.” the father replied. “It’s the only one I have and I’m not sure what’s ahead.”
“Of course.” She responded. “ I fully understand.”
Another short time passed and the woman turned to the man and seemed to notice the licorice sticking out of his front pocket. She said, “I sure am hungry. Do you think you could spare one of those licorice you have in your pocket there?”
“Sorry, ma’me.” replied the father, “My daughter gave them to me and they’re all I have to remember her by.”
“Of course.” She responded. “I fully understand.”
Shortly there after the train came to a stop and the father got off. He looked around to see what had happened to the woman, only to find she had vanished.
“Oh well,” he thought. “I’m sure she’ll get whatever’s coming to her.”
He headed off down the road before him, not thinking about it any longer. Then he noticed a staircase before him with a small sign. It read, “This way to Judgment.” And pointed up the stairs. So, up he went.
Then he came to the top of the stairs and found himself in a greenhouse all filled with plant life of many different kinds. Wondering around, he finally came upon the gardener and asked, “Could you point me in the direction of the Judgment?”
“I am the Judge.” She replied. And suddenly the father found himself face to face with the very woman he had just disregarded not once, not twice, but three times.

What was your reaction to that story? Maybe you’re sitting there wondering, “What would I do in that situation?” or “Was how the father acted so wrong?” or “There wasn’t even a warning!” Personally, I see a lot of similarities between the story I just told and the gospel passage I read this morning. In both cases none of those being judged were really aware of what was going on. They never realized that their present actions could have eternal consequences. Yet they did. Most of us never realize the ways we act in our present lives will affect our eternal destiny and yet they will. Why is this the case? Why would God base His eternal judgment on something so arbitrary? It just seems so random. Or maybe not.

Have you ever noticed that people act a lot differently publicly than they do privately? How they may be one person when they’re on display, and another when they’re just living day to day? Why is that? I think it’s because when we know we’re being watched we act exactly as we know we’re supposed to act and when we think we’re alone or just blending into the crowd, we let ourselves loose. We feel free to just be ourselves when no one’s looking. I think God knows this. He knows we wear masks in public and take them off in private. He knows everyone of us has a split personality. Some of us have been wearing that mask so long we no longer know who we really are. He knows that too.

He knows that it’s when our guard is down, when we think no one’s watching that our true essence comes out. He knows we’re ashamed of that side of us, yet that’s the very part of us He came to save. That’s the part of us He is inviting to come follow Him and become like His Son, Jesus Christ. He’s not so much concerned with how much we do for Him publicly as He is about who we are becoming privately. That’s what really matters when it comes to our eternal destiny. Do you see the difference yet?

To me, the distinction is crucial. I have firmly come to believe over the years I have known God, that lasting transformation and change comes not in adapting a certain set of behaviors and learning to live your life right, but receiving Christ into your life and allowing Him to change you from the inside out through the power of His Holy Spirit at work within your heart. Once the heart is changed, outer change will follow suit.

The question I wish for you to leave with today is not what am I doing wrong and how can I become better, but who am I becoming? Am I becoming more and more like Christ every day inside and out? Am I taking the time daily to hear His voice and learn who He is inviting me to become? Am I trying to live my life on my own according to His principles or am I learning to hear His voice and follow Him into the life He is calling me to?