Saturday after the Last Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 27, 2021 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 25:31-46 (NKJV)
25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Devotion
Very often in the Church we emphasize God’s love, grace, and forgiveness; and rightly so. But notions of love, grace, and forgiveness lose their true meaning when false teaching about the Law makes them unnecessary. Our world has no problem accepting a loving God, a gracious God, a forgiving God. The world’s idealized version of God sounds good and doesn’t disturb one’s life of impenitence. But what is forgotten is that in order to have a forgiving God, one must have a need to be forgiven. In order to have a gracious God, one must be in need of grace. In fact, grace and forgiveness lose all meaning without a judgment. If God simply “accepts” everyone as the world would suppose, then no one needs to be pardoned, no one needs to escape a coming catastrophe of judgment.
But Jesus is clear in this, His Mount Olivet discourse to His disciples. There is a judgment coming on the world, and He is the judge. Over and over again in this discourse of Jesus’ we see not a picture of universal acceptance of mankind, but a dividing of people into two categories. Jesus “shall come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead,” as the Church confesses in her creeds. So we proclaim true love, grace, and forgiveness according to His righteous will, and abide as faithful sheep by His Spirit.
Prayer: Absolve, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy people from their offenses; that from the bonds of our sins which, by reason of our frailty, we have brought upon us, we may be delivered by Thy bountiful goodness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the End of the Church Year
We thank Thee, Lord God, Heavenly Father, that in the past church Year Thou hast preserved Thy Word among us in purity, and by it sensibly quickened our souls; and we beseech Thee, Thou wouldst graciously forgive us all our neglect, unbelief, and disobedience of Thy Word, and continue unto us this precious treasure with Thy blessing forevermore; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
