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"JOY! OR JUDGMENT?"
GOSPEL SCRIPTURE TEXT: MATT. 25:31-46

DR. DAVE RING, PASTOR
LOS ALAMOS 1ST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
PALM SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 1, 2007

SCRIPTURE TEXT: 31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All 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. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34"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. 35For 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, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' 41"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. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' 44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' 46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, on this Palm Sunday, may we receive You--and Your Holy Word--with joy. And further, O Lord, may we do what Your Word commands--that our joy may be everlasting. Amen.

MESSAGE: Palm Sunday. The triumphal entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem. "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!" These are familiar words to most who attend Christian churches, even infrequently.

Not long ago, while attending a national evangelism conference for United Methodists, I became engaged in conversation with a well-known black pastor of our denomination. While we were discussing the life of Jesus, I commented thus: "Isn't it a shame that Jesus' earthly ministry was so short!? He had so little time to teach, and only a fraction of it is preserved for us. We know such a small amount about him personally--his friendships, his associations. I have a hard time understanding why God allowed Him to be crucified so soon--only three years into His public life!" My black brother had a very different perspective. He said this: "I'm not at all surprised that Jesus was killed three years into his ministry. What amazes me is that God was able to preserve His life that long! His teachings, His works were far too radical, much too revolutionary, for Him to be allowed to continue living. How long would He have been allowed to live in your town--or to preach in your church? Three months? A year at most? Jesus was just plain lucky that they didn't get Him sooner than they did!"

That conversation got me to reflecting back much farther in my life -- to Nashville, Tennessee, 1976 - thirty-plus years ago. I was then working on my doctoral degree, and simultaneously serving a church. Nashville, for those who don't already know, is considered "headquarters" for at least seven major Protestant Christian denominations--our own included. It's the "Rome" of Methodism. While I was there, I recalled that a group of "Campus Crusade for Christ" youth decided to start canvassing the shopping centers of Nashville, handing out tracts and such. The local merchants' association soon got a court order to stop them, and when they ignored it, several dozens of them were arrested. I remember well the TV news coverage of those arrests. One youth, as he was being carted off with a policeman on each arm, said, "Are you planning to arrest all the Christians in Nashville?" To which one of the cops replied, in stereotypical "old South" fashion, "Listen, kid--the Christians of Nashville know their place!"

When Jesus came to this earth, He didn't know His "place." He didn't wait for anyone's permission to teach--to preach--to heal--to seek justice--to forgive sins--to set free those in bondage, either of body or spirit. He just did it. And the people were amazed. They marveled. "Wow! He's got authority!"

People of Los Alamos First United Methodist Church--People of God--Christians--Where is your authority? Who gave you authority? Jesus said, "If your brother is hungry, feed him!" So he's a down-and-out bum who shuffles up to your back door, and you know he's never spent a sober day in his adult life. So he's a radical Muslim terrorist who'll probably use the extra energy he gets from the food to kill those he disagrees with in his home country. So he's a Hare Krishna at a busy airport who believes in a false god and makes a fool of himself by hassling people who walk by. So what? He's your brother human being. If he's hungry, don't ask silly questions! Feed him!

Jesus said, "If your sister is in prison, visit her!" How many of you here this morning have ever been into one of the many prisons which are spread throughout our state of New Mexico to personally visit someone? We've got nearly 7,000 human beings, each and every one of them precious in the sight of God, locked up - on a long term basis -- within the borders of our state. Prisons are a growth industry for New Mexico. Have you ever individually visited with any of these thousands of people? No, I won't embarrass you by asking you to raise your hands. I know that most of you haven't been there, although a double handful of you, praise God, have. And frankly, I haven't been all that often myself. Really, I'm scared. I mean, those places are full of murderers, thieves, prostitutes, perverts -- the dregs of humanity. Since our courts today let off 90% of all criminals, the ones who actually get put in prison must be really bad news!

So what!? That hardened criminal -- she's your sister human being! Christ died for her sins, too! She's your sister -- if she's in prison, visit her!

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, he will sit down on His throne, and all the nations will be gathered before Him. That includes you and me, folks! And he will judge each individual human. According to God's Word, there will be a lot of very surprised people in that judgment.
For some, it will be joyous surprise. "Thanks for all the credit, Lord, but we really don't deserve it! We just saw hungry people around us, and fed them. We just saw strangers -- Africans, Arabs, Orientals -- and welcomed them. We just found our fellow human beings--folks exactly like us--locked up in prisons, so we visited them. We didn't wait for anybody to give us permission; we didn't ask interminable numbers of questions. We just did what we would do for anybody. We didn't know we were helping You, Lord!

For others, there will also be surprise at the Judgment of Christ. But it will be surprise of dismay--disbelief! What do you mean, Lord, that we rejected You? We never even saw You! Oh, sure, we kicked out a few derelicts. They deserved it. Yeah, we got mad about our tax money being used to support a bunch of no good, lazy Latinos on welfare. After all, we worked hard for our daily bread. Sure, we saw those pictures on TV of people starving in Eritrea. Just media-hype, that's all that was.
But we never ignored You, Lord! I mean, You should have told us it was You in need. If we'd known, we'd have been there, pronto! We'd have rolled out the red carpet, for sure!
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!" On this Palm Sunday, he who has ears--let him hear the Word of God. Amen.

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