Sermon Matthew 25:31-46 Secret Shopper

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

New Covenant Presbyterian Church

Sermon Matthew 25:31-46 Secret Shopper

November 26, 2017

We have just entered into the secular festival called “shopping days before Christmas.”   This celebration starts on the day after Thanksgiving with a holiday called “Black Friday”.   On this day you are to spend as much money as you can so that retailers will be in the black, and profitable for the year.   Tomorrow is “Cyber Monday” when you are supposed to spend as much money as you can online.   Then you must spend as much money as you can on Christmas gifts before Christmas Eve.  If you can’t afford all this shopping then you must go into credit card debt.   In our culture, it is most important that you participate in the annual ritual of “shopping days before Christmas” so that you can give unwanted gifts to people who already have everything.

Don’t tell anyone, but this Tuesday at 9:30 am a group of us will enter into a conspiracy to restore original meanings to Advent and Christmas.  We will gather in my office to come up with a plan.   We believe that Christmas can still change the world. But first, we must Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More and Love All.   Come join us for the Advent Conspiracy beginning this Tuesday at 9:30 am.  Let’s pray.

Almighty God, reveal to me the greatness of your power, that I may see your presence among the lowly and the lost and know the authority and sovereignty of your love in Jesus Christ, our Lord, who is also our humble brother. Amen.”

In the 1980s I owned three retail stores in Virginia, Washington DC and Bethany Beach.  When you own more than one store it is impossible to watch what is happening in the all the stores.  You can only be in one place at one time.  So what you must do is find a way to see what is happening in the stores while you are away.  You do this by getting a “secret shopper”.  A secret shopper will go into a store in disguise.  They pretend to be an ordinary shopper.  But they are not.  They look around and see how the store looks and what the employees are doing.  They buy something and observe how the employees treat customers.  Then they report all of this to the owner who then takes whatever corrective measures are needed.   

According to Jesus, he plans to return to earth as a secret shopper.  He will be wearing disguises. Let’s turn to the gospel of Matthew and hear what Jesus is going to do.

Matthew 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 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. 33 He 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. 35 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, 36 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.’

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? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “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.’

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. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I 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, ‘Truly I tell you, 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.”

According to Jesus, when he returns, he will be wearing four different disguises.  Let’s look at these.  The first disguise Jesus will be wearing is a superhero.  Like Superman, Jesus will fly through the air as he comes from heaven to earth.   In doing so, he will be fulfilling this vision from the book of Daniel.

Daniel 7:13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,[a] coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

We will see Jesus as the superhero, the Son of Man, riding the clouds from heaven to earth.  When this happens all believers will assemble, including those who have died who will be resurrected from the dead.  It will be a glorious day for all who believe in Jesus Christ.  We will live together in our resurrected bodies forever.   And we will always be at peace in the presence of Jesus Christ.   For believers, there could be no better vision.

Jesus will come disguised as the superhero, the Son of Man, but then he will also wear a second disguise.  He will become a shepherd.   A shepherd, in the first century, would allow his goats and sheep to graze in the field together during the day.  But at night the shepherd would gather the goats into his cave because they could not tolerate the cold as well as the sheep.   The shepherd did this because he loves both the sheep and the goats.  And so too with us.   Jesus loves us and will shepherd us, both goats and sheep, all believers, into the warmth of his presence.   And we will sing with the psalmist:

Psalm 23  1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul.  He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.  4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,[a] I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

So Jesus will come disguised as a superhero and as a shepherd.  But that’s not all.  Jesus will also come disguised as a person living in a homeless shelter.  He is hungry.  He is thirsty.  He is looking for a job.  He is trying to learn English.  He is trying to support his family.   When we meet this person we won't know that it is Jesus.  Jesus is coming like a secret shopper to see how we respond.  Will we give him something to eat and drink? Will we help him find a place to stay?  Will we help him find a job?  Will we invite him to our church?  Will we obey God's command:

Leviticus 19:10  Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.

So we have seen that Jesus will come disguised as a superhero, and as a shepherd and as a homeless person.  But there is one more disguise he will wear.  He will look like a king.  And as king he will assemble the believers together and separate them into the sheep and goats.  The sheep are those who will be useful in the Kingdom of God because they care for the widow and orphan and poor and the alien, and the old, and the sick, and injured.  The goats are those who choose not to care for others and therefore are useless in God's kingdom.  The goats will be cast out into darkness.  But for all who obey God's commands to love God and love your neighbor as yourself, you will inherit the kingdom.  

Of course, Jesus won’t be wearing disguises.   But what we need to remember is that all people, all men and women, were created in the image of God.  And so we should treat all people as if they were Jesus.   Image what would happen to your family if you treated everyone as if they were really Jesus in disguise.  If all Christians treated everyone as if they were a disguised Jesus a revolution of love would sweep the world.   Some would call this the kingdom of God.

We don't know when Jesus will return.  He might be here already.  Jesus might even be living in Middletown.  Jesus might be a single mother trying to support her family on minimum wage and needs food from Neighborhood House.  Jesus might be eating lunch at Our Daily Bread this Friday.  Jesus might be a homeless veteran at Victory Village.   Jesus might be an immigrant facing deportation.   Jesus might be a lonely person hoping that someone would invite them to the fellowship of a church.  We don't know what disguise Jesus might be wearing right now.  But he is coming as a secret shopping to see how we will react.  So let's be thankful that Jesus is returning to establish the kingdom of God.  And let's be church, caring for those who need our help while we wait for Jesus to return.  Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, we thank you for blessing us with life and health and families and homes and church.  Help us to remember to share our blessings with those less fortunate.  Soften our hearts so that we may love the poor as much as you do.  This we pray.  Amen.