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Love
Teaching Text: Matthew 25: 31-41
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 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.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 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 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, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
Sheep and goats
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
How do we measure fruitfulness in our spirituality?
What makes people seem more spiritually mature?
Lent: Historically, the season of Lent in the church year is a time of preparation, repentance, and renewal. We remember and mark Jesus’ time of fasting and temptation in the wilderness. We ask God to help remove our sin and anything that has entangled us or is keeping us from experiencing our union with Jesus.
Here are lent resources: https://trinitygracechurch.com/lent
In this text, we see:
Do not be apathetic about the time
You will be held accountable for what you have been given
The measurement is how you treat your neighbor - how you love those in need
Criteria for righteousness:
“Then the righteous 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?”
– Matthew 25 v 37-39
Shocking Detail #1: The Righteous Don't Know They are Righteous
This was contrary to what the Pharisees were saying equates to righteousness.
“Then the righteous 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?’”
– Matthew 25 v 37-39What do current religious norms describe as characteristics of righteousness?
Shocking Detail #2: The King (The Son of Man) so identifies with these people in need that he says a kindness done to them is a kindness done to them.
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
– Matthew 25 v 40
Shocking Detail #3: The Consequences of Not Caring for Those in Need is Extremely Drastic
It was the same as denying, ignoring, and withholding help from Jesus
The eternal fire is not prepared for people, but pride and lack of love makes it there place
We have to wonder is this passage saying something different than many other parts of the New Testament?
DEPART FROM ME - there is an echo of a phrase that isnt here but is in the chapter and several other places I NEVER KNEW YOU
The hinge point is their sacrificial love and their pride or humility
THE DANGER FOR US
HOW TO BE A THEOLOGICALLY ACCURATE CHRISTIAN PHARISEE
Using the atonement of Jesus to let myself off the hook for living a comfortable American life where I ignore my neighbor
This is so close to what the Pharisees of Jesus day did with the Law of Moses
We are covered by God's covenant so we worry about keeping ourselves clean and we despise others
IMPLICATIONS OF THIS STORY - prophetic picture
Knowing Jesus must lead to loving like Jesus and loving Jesus through our neighbors
“It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbour. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken.”
– C.S. LEWIS
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously—no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses.”
– C.S. LEWIS
Loving our neighbors is a primary way God has asked us to Love him.
“God identifies with our neighbor just so we can do for the neighbor what we cannot do for God, which is to love another with complete and total generosity. Moreover, it is precisely this recognition of how freely and generously we have been loved by God that inspires our free and generous love of neighbor.”
– Frederick Bauerschmidt
