Finnish Lutheran Church in Ball

Pastor Timo’s sermon, November 23th, 2008 ; Translated by Katja Kupari

Christ the King Matthew 25:31-46

A piece of news that caught my attention this week was an item on a betting agency’s latest bet: to prove that God exists. The person, who can scientifically prove that God exists, will earn his money back and it will multiply. Of course it is clear that even odds that temptingly high will hardly change the resolving of one of the most intricate issues one way or another. In a way the task is also scientifically controversial, because on one hand the proof of God’s existence should be 100% solid, and on the other hand the holes in science are the very proof many see as God’s existence. For example, for some the question of the beginning of the universe is a show of pure coincidence. And for others the question of how only a one-billionth of a change in the consistency of the elements would have prevented the whole universe from being started is a sign of God’s existence rather than of invalidation of mathematical probabilities.

What I am trying to say is: we cannot escape the question of faith even if God’s existence became a degree more convincing by scientific means. The Sunday gospel Christ the King talks about God’s existence as something other than a theoretic problem. It approaches the question from the faith and deed perspective. Nevertheless, a scientist who was interviewed in this news piece about the bet I mentioned touched the core of today’s topic. Because according to him, believing that God exists would be easy if God just appeared one day in the market place, and in the scientist’s story it was the Kuopio (a city in Finland) market place – now that would be some news .

But, in fact, God’s appearance in the market place, among people, is what Christ the King Sunday is all about. Jesus says ”I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me ” (Mt 25:40)

Therefore Christ exists everywhere where even one person is met and helped. He especially exists where the need is the greatest, where loneliness, sickness and suffering are everywhere. “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.” (Mt 25:35-36)

Christ the King Sunday talks about the judgment day, the day when every person has to face the heavenly throne and the highest judge. Those of you who have been to court, even only to follow a trial in the audience, you know how serious a place it is. I myself went once to follow a couple of cases to court and thought how massive and authoritative the court bench felt like. I noticed that I was internally laughing at a defendant’s explanations on the matter, although I did not know his case better, his explanations felt like somewhat desperate attempts to get the judge to be lenient. But soon I caught my own thoughts and started thinking what it would feel like to face the heavenly judge. Would even the good explanations and the best defence attorneys help? If and when God can see in humans, in every single one of us what we have done and left undone, and not just what we have done but also what we have thought, then how could we prove our innocence? Even though others would not have seen, even though the secular court system could not have convicted, even though the prosecutor didn’t have a case and reasonable doubt was there, God would have seen everything about our life. And would He have liked it all? Hardly.

So what will the final judgement be like, if assumable every human being is guilty of deeds and thoughts, small or big in their lifetime that have been against God’s holy will, against what is best for your neighbour. What is the criterion God uses to sentence others to eternal life and others to condemnation?

One thing catches the eye in the gospel: the last judgment is not the same than secular judgment. ”I was in prison and you came to visit me” (Mt 25:36) So that means that someone who is in prison, convicted of who-knows-what-crimes, is actually suffering with Christ. Someone, who in the darkest of places receives acts of love from his neighbour, gets to be with Christ Himself. And then reversed: those who are already serving their sentences and are, for one reason or another, forgotten and abandoned by others, are irresponsible next to those, or should I say us, who have left them alone in their misery and loneliness.

The last judgment is without a doubt a topic that can give you chills and get your heart racing. It is also a topic that was discussed much more during the Church’s history than nowadays. The Church art of the Middle Ages show us these mighty and scary paintings of hell, of the fiery lake and the last judgment. If this topic was meant to scare back then, it probably succeeded very well. By the same token, if the final fate of people is not talked about and is considered a nondesirable, uncomfortable topic today, this is not doing justice to God’s word, which Church should talk about first and foremost, regardless of the spirit of the times.

But the perception of fear on the last judgment is inevitably too narrow. It would not align with Jesus becoming human and into the world, and not with the words that we’ve heard today in the absolution: 16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,^[^a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

In addition to judgment, and even bigger than it, there is the window of hope into the future. Today’s epistle told us what kind of hope has been given to Christians: “17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit^[^a] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:17)

Christians have been given a hope in their hearts of a better world. A hope of fairness. A hope of justice prevailing, that good is bigger than evil, that love is bigger than hatred and fear.

The meaning of the last judgment is also revealed from the perspective of faith and deeds. It reinforces the fact again that faith in Jesus is not just a question of doctrine or a formality, but more than anything a matter of faith of the heart and practical deeds. Like Apostle James writes: “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:17) The lambs described in the last judgment represent faith that actualizes in deeds, in how our neighbours have been treated. Like the Bible says, true faith is never fruitless. ”13for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”(Philippians2:13). It is also written: 13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Rm 10:13) But humans have their own responsibility in receiving and practicing faith. Humans are God’s biggest partnership on earth. Through humans He wants to forward love and justice. And an exceptionally important partner in God’s plans is His congregation, those who believe in Him, like we heard from today’s epistle:“19…his incomparably great power for us who believe. 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” (Eph 1:19-23)

This actually says a lot. The congregation is Christ’s hands and feet that have been called to fill Christ’s will in this world. A Christian, someone who believes in Christ is already now, through his faith we heard in today’s epistle. That power is like the working of his mighty, a part of the same influence of God that placed Christ on the right side of God in Heaven.

So through faith Christians are already a part of Heaven and eternal life. Although the topic of Judgment Sunday should not be approached primarily through fear of eternal punishment, but first and foremost from the perspective of hope and faith, there is a special reason to keep in mind what Jesus is talking about.

In this world that admires individual freedom, loneliness is usually on the flip-side of individuality. More than ever there are those among us who have fallen off the ride and become secluded. Those who are more familiar with homelessness, hunger and sickness than with friends and family. Those, who have proven the slogan ”everyone is the blacksmith of his own happiness” (Finnish proverb) impossible to achieve. Those who have trusted the Finnish or American dream of ”work hard and you will be rewarded”, but were crushed by bigger wheels and disappointed by their dreams regardless of their own actions. There are also those who on the outside seem to be doing well, but that’s exactly where the tragedy of their loneliness lies – they can have number of people around them, but yet do not feel loved.

Christ the King Sunday tells us that there will be work in the world until judgment day. It tells us that no human was meant to live alone, neglected and forgotten. It tells us that the needs of our neighbors are the needs of Christ. That helping your neighbour is shedding light upon Christ’s face in this world, God’s existence becoming true amongst us.

In a world that admires individuality a difficult, but maybe also the best thing is to come to the personal realization that I don’t have to make it on my own. That receiving help can be the turning point of life. If you have needed and received help yourself, you may be more likely to remember your neighbour. The most important commandment is to love God and your neighbour as you love yourself. Love, then, always needs an object - God and your neighbour. If you do not forward it, it suffocates, holds still and becomes selfishness. Humans have been created to interact and to meet the needs of their neighbours. Humans have been created to serve God by serving our neighbours. Humans, you and I, have been created to receive and forward blessings.

Saarnat Suomeksi	Previous Sermons in English

Lokak.12, 2008	Oct. 12, 2008
Syysk.28, 2008	Sep. 28, 2008
Syysk. 14, 2008	*Sep. 14, 2008*
Elok. 31, 2008	Aug. 31, 2008
*Elok. 24, 2008*	*Aug. 24, 2008*
Toukok. 25, 2008	May 25, 2008
Toukok. 11, 2008	May 11, 2008
Huhtik.27, 2008	April 27, 2008
*Maalisk. 30, 2008*	Mar. 30, 2008
Maalisk. 23, 2008	Mar. 23, 2008
Maalisk. 09, 2008	Mar.09, 2008