Walk Humbly - Matthew 25

Have you ever read a story in the bible and thought - wait a minute, I’ve seen a TV show just like this? Well - maybe that’s just for bible nerds - but back in 2010 CBS aired a brand new show that ended up being WILDLY popular and it sounded an

awful lot like the scripture we’re going to get into today. When it came out this show was the most popular new show in any genre that year - it premiered to 38.6 million viewers and to this day that premiere is the highest rated and most watched single episode of the 2010’s. Nothing could keep up with this show. It had something for everyone - deception, secret identities, goofy antics, powerful people being humbled, lowly employees being elevated - injustice discovered, wrongs righted, and most importantly - eyes opened. Of course the program I’m talking about is the hit show Undercover Boss [logo]. It ran for 12 years and had 136 episodes - and every episode had the exact same plot: a high-positioned executive or the owner of a corporation would go undercover as an entry-level employee in their own company. The executive would change their appearance, usually involving a wig or facial hair or fake glasses or something - and they would come in with a fictional back-story. The excuse for the cameras was that the worker was in a documentary about entry level workers in a particular industry. They would do one week undercover, and then at the end - reveal their true identity. Then it was everybody’s favorite part - they’d bring the selected employee to the corporate headquarters, and there was a big reveal, SURPRISE I’m actually your bosses, bosses, boss. And then a lot of times they would give gifts to hardworking employees. Sometimes giving them giant financial gifts or opportunities, promotions - all of that. Some of the companies that participated were 7-eleven, Subway, Dippin’ Dots, NASCAR, even Great Wolf Lodge. When I read that, I had to go look up that episode - because my kids love that place. And it’s true season 2, episode 2. Now I have not watched the show very much, but even for those of us who didn’t watch the show - we are drawn to the premise. For some reason - we are attracted to stories where the power dynamics reverse and switch back. It scratches the justice itch for us. If someone treats the boss poorly when they’re undercover we think, “oohoo, they’re gonna get it!” or if there’s poor working conditions or outdated equipment we think, “it’s great that the boss gets to see this.” 

Today is the final sermon in our series called “The Rebels Guide To Goodness” and we have spent this month diving into questions of authority and justice, mercy and grace. From the beginning we realized that if we’re going to do things God’s way - it’s going to look like rebellion from the ways that the world teaches. We started in the book of Micah - asking the question, how do we define what is Good? And Micah, chapter 6 verse 8 gives us an incredible line for what it means to go after good with our lives it says, [on the screen; Micah 6:8]. And so all month we have been unpacking those statements. What does God mean when he says “do what is right” - and we saw how God invites us to care for the poor, care for the vulnerable in society. That’s how he defines justice. Then last week we heard from Pastor Danielle Freed about what it looks like to love mercy. And today, now that we have defined what is good, and we understand his challenge to love mercy - now we are ready to try and walk humbly with our God.

And so if you want to grab your bibles, we’re going to be in Matthew chapter 25, which is a teaching from Jesus - and while you’re looking that up, Matthew is in the New Testament, so it’s going to be towards the back of the bible - and I’m using the New Living Translation, if you’d like a physical bible, we’ve got NIV’s on the back wall. So while you’re flipping to that page, or looking it up on your phone, I want to set the stage a little bit. You see, Jesus spent a lot of time talking about two things - the kingdom of heaven and how to get there. Jesus made it very clear - he said in the gospel of John (14:6) “I am the way, the truth and the life - nobody comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus’ primary teachings were how to get to the kingdom of heaven and how to live in the kingdom of heaven. And so Matthew chapter 25 is a bunch of stories about God’s kingdom, about how we should behave. It starts out with a story about vigilance, and then it shifts to a story about using the gifts that you have been given - and then we get to verse 31 - the last story in the chapter, and that’s where I want to zero in today. 

[read v.31-33]. So it’s pretty straightforward, we’re talking about judgment. This is a picture of judgment - a parable, a story designed to teach us a lesson. Son of God (Jesus) coming in his glory, sitting on his throne - separating the people: sheep and goats. Verse 34, [read v.34-36]. Those on his right - come, inherit the kingdom of God because you took care of me. And then he lists examples of people to care for: six categories of people. Hungry. Thirsty. Stranger. Naked. Sick. Prison. And Jesus is very clear - the people who take care of these people, those are the ones who are blessed by the Father, those are the ones who inherit the kingdom. So for me as a Christian, someone who wants to be blessed by the Father, someone who wants to inherit the kingdom - this is my to do list! Just in a very simple, straightforward way - if Jesus wants us to do this, we should be doing this. 

Can I be honest with you? This passage, this is my dream for our church. The way I see it, there are two parts of my job, there’s more to it, but two main teachings: tell people about Jesus Christ, the son of God and savior of the world - and then, as a pastor, do whatever I can to help the people under my care - the people GOd has given me to shepherd (and I don’t even like the word shepherd, I know that’s the latin translation for “pastor” - but I’m not a shepherd, I’m a sheep-dog. I’m just a happy puppy running in circles around the people of this church trying to keep the wolves away and keep you out of the brambles of sin. That’s how I see my job. Tell people about Jesus, and help people become more LIKE Jesus. And so whatever that means - kid’s ministry, student ministry, visitations, life groups - I’ll plunge toilets in the kingdom of God as long as it helps you grow more like Jesus. Growing more like Jesus is actually how I measure success as a church leader. Like, I know we track attendance and giving and all that stuff because we need to be organized and transparent and have responsible leadership - pay the bills, keep the lights on, blah, blah, blah. But do you know my real standard for success for this church? My question is always: “Did the people who encounter Center Church this week become more like Jesus?” That is what I want us to be. I don’t care how big or small we are - as long as we do a good job helping people grow closer to Jesus. 

And so when I see Jesus praising someone for doing something - I turn that into my to do list. If you’ve got your bible open, put your finger on that verse and walk through it with me. Verse 35 - Hungry. Does our church do something to feed the hungry? Yup. We have this amazing program that puts food into the lockers of children to give them a meal every weekend. Naked - does our church help clothe people? Well we have this partner called Hope Unexpected and we are a diaper drop off location for Byron Center. No naked baby butts on our watch. Hungry - check. Naked - check. Sick? Does our church visit people who are sick? Well, it’s not anything organized - but yes! I remember my first summer here - there was family who had something scary happen, and they were all in the hospital. I hadn’t even met these people yet, but I heard they were in the hospital. And I called over to the hospital - I was so excited to do my first visit as a pastor, which I realize was a weird reaction to hearing that someone is sick. They’re in the hospital? That’s awesome (that’s terrible) - but truly it was like this opportunity to show you all that I care. And I call over to the hospital and the lady was like, “Nah you can’t go in there - the family’s here, plus a bunch of people from their church.” My first chance to visit someone in the hospital, and you all beat me to it. (I hope you understand that I’m bragging about you right now).  And I don’t know if I’ve told you all that story before, but in my heart that summer - that was just further confirmation that this church was the right place for my family. When we find out someone in our community is sick - I have loved hearing the stories of the ways you all have come around one another. Giving rides to doctor’s appointments, setting up meal trains, or just plain ol’ showing up and visiting.

Hungry - check. Naked - check. Sick - Check. Stranger, and you welcomed me in. Like a homeless person. Well - we are right now, trying to get a new program called Bridge of Hope, from Mel Trotter Ministries off the ground. We’re putting together a dream team of mentors to provide wraparound support for a family climbing out of poverty. Sign up is in the lobby. And if Bridge of Hope gets off the ground and all the other ministries are stable and doing well - if you’ve still got your finger on that verse, I bet you can predict the next ministry this church will try to start. Verse 36, somebody find it. [pause]. Prison ministry. That’s a whole group of people that Jesus told us to love and care for, and we’re not doing it. And it’s not going to happen right away - this is going to take us years to build. But I can promise you as soon as we have the capacity, we’re going to try and grow into that.

And so there it is - my super secret roadmap for missions in this church. My devious master plan. Since I got here, I have talked a lot about growth, about getting a bigger space, more classrooms for all these amazing children we have the privilege to teach. But I worry that I’ve given the wrong impression. To be honest - sometimes I wonder if I want this church to grow because of my ego, because of my own worldly ambition. But I have asked God to strip away any impure motive in my life - and the to do list remains the same. I don’t want to get bigger as a church simply to get bigger. I want this church to grow - not just in size, but to grow in our capacity to do the things that Jesus tells us to do. It’s the difference between growing to have more and growing in order to give more. 

Jesus praises those on his right - good job doing all these things, but then look at their response, verse 37. [read v.37-39]. The righteous people sort of look around and go, “Lord, when did we ever…?” Jesus, what are you talking about? I don’t remember that And the key teaching from that is simply that when they served the people around them - they did not know that they were serving Jesus. I think we can all agree - if Jesus Christ himself showed up, and we knew who he was - we would ROLL out the red carpet, right? Let me open the door for you sir, let me sprinkle rose petals on your chair - we would get out the nice china if it was Jesus. But these people did these things, and they did not know it was him. 

There’s an old story - I’m not sure if it’s a true story, probably more of a modern parable than a news article - but it went viral a few years back about a pastor named Jeremiah Steepek, who got a job at a ginormous church in the south. 10,000 member church, and he was about to be introduced as the new head pastor. Now he had interviewed with the leadership of the church, but nobody else in this giant church knew who he was. So the morning of his introduction, he transformed himself into a homeless person. He walked around the church for 30 minutes while it was filling with people for service  - only 3 people out of the thousands of people around him said hello to him. He asked people for change to buy food, but no one would give him change. He went into the sanctuary to sit down in the front row, and was asked by the ushers if he would please sit in the back. “It’s a special Sunday, you see.” He tried to greet people only to be greeted back with blank stares and dirty looks. Finally the service started, and he sat in the back and listened to the church announcements and such. People kept looking back at him during the music, some curious - but mostly judgmental. And the elders, who were in on it, they got up front and said, “We would like to introduce to you Pastor Jeremiah Steepek.” The congregation looked around clapping, all excited to catch a glimpse of the new guy. And the homeless man sitting in the back stood up and started walking down the aisle. And all the clapping stopped as people slowly realized what was going on. He walked up to the altar, took the microphone from the elders and paused for a moment. And then he recited these words, “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—” he read the whole thing. And the pastor dressed like a homeless man looked out at the people and told them what he had experienced that morning. People began to cry, and a lot of people hung their heads in shame. And then he said, “Today, I see a gathering of people, not a church of Jesus Christ. The world has enough people, but not enough disciples. When will YOU decide to become disciples?” And then he dismissed service until the next week.

The righteous people did not know they were serving Jesus. They ask “when did we ever… hungry, thirsty, naked, sick - I never saw you like that” And verse 40, [read v.40]. This such a powerful moment. In fact it’s so potent that it has been used over and over by hollywood - think about the movie Aladdin - the princess Jasmine dressing like a commoner, or Beauty and the Beast - the powerful enchantress dressing like an old beggar lady. There’s a reason undercover boss was such an emotional, inspiring show. There’s a reason that story about the homeless pastor went viral even though it’s probably not a real church. Jesus is pretending to be the least of these - putting on a disguise, to trick us into treating other people nicely. Be nice to that guy - he might be Jesus. 

And think about it - what if we actually did it? To be a church where we treat the least of these as if they were Jesus? What if that was built into our culture? A homeless guy, or a single mom struggling with her kids, or an older person who has been hurt by the church in the past - they come in here? I want them to be swarmed with love and support. What if, in this place, they were treated like a king? And not just in services on Sunday - like, this is another dream I have for Center Church. I want this church to be a staple in our community, so much so that people cannot imagine this town without us. I want this place to be such a fountain of positive impact for Byron Center and beyond that people who don’t even go to our church will praise God that we exist. Whether that’s fun stuff like Byron Days or helping out with community worship- or solving problems like poverty or food scarcity, helping single moms, visiting the prisons. One of the things consultants always say to churches - they challenge leadership with this question, they’ll say; if your church closed its doors this week - aside from the people who attend on Sunday, who would even notice? My dream for Center Church, that God has put on my heart - I want this church to be the reason statistics change in our town. When people think of Center I don’t want them to think, “oh, that’s a really cool church - they’ve got great preaching.” Who cares! This is West Michigan - there’s tons of trendy churches, and loads of brilliant preachers. No, no, no - I want people to say - Thank God for that church - because of them there are less hungry people, there are less lonely people, there are less homeless people, this is less hopelessness because God has been working through those people to push back the darkness. THAT’s the church I want us to build.

Now, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I love Sunday mornings - I think we have just an incredible team, from paid staff like Josh and Katie, to the army of volunteers who pull off all the moving parts - I think we do a great job on Sunday mornings. I’m proud of the quality we provide. We experience incredible worship in this place. But I did not become a pastor to entertain people with bible trivia for a couple decades before I die. I’m not here to get compliments on great preaching, or my cool haircut or my angelic singing voice - nobody says those things, but I just assume that’s what you’re all thinking (laugh) - but no, I’m not here for any of that. I am here to help you grow closer to God. [hold up the bible] And this is how we do it. 

Verse 41, Jesus flips the script, [read v.41-46]. If you do this stuff for the most vulnerable - you’re doing it for me. If you DON’T do this stuff, then you wouldn’t do it for me.  And again we see it - Jesus is identifying with the least of these. When you look at them, I want you to see me. And here’s the bombshell that hit me last week when I was studying this stuff. He’s not pretending to be vulnerable. He’s substituting.

Matthew 25, which I have read over and over for years - it’s not just a to do list. Matthew 25 is the core of the gospel. I used to read it sort of like an undercover boss episode. Like, I had this idea that Jesus was trying to teach us, “I want you to treat poor people as if they were me.” Like it was pretend. The boss is pretending to be one of the poor people. The boss is pretending to be one of the weak. But what I realized when i came back to it was that it’s not that Jesus IS those people, or is pretending to be those people. It’s that when people are cast down, broken and defeated - he is stepping in front of those people. Substituting himself for them. 

Isaiah 53, verse 5 tells us [read it]. Mark chapter 10, verse 45 [read it]. The good news that I have for you today is that our God substitutes himself for the vulnerable. Not the good, not the deserving, not the impressive - God substitutes himself for the vulnerable. Our God is a God of justice - he will wipe away evil and sin from this world. But our God is also a God who loves mercy.  And in the face of sin which needs to be wiped out, evil which results in death - the only way for God to both do justice AND love mercy is to substitute himself for us. To take the punishment for our sins on himself, in the person of Jesus. To die in our place. What I want you to realize is that Micah 6:8, secret contains all the building blocks of the gospel. It says, [read it]. The cross is the moment when the justice of God meets the mercy of God - with the ultimate goal of reconciling God and his people - for us to walk humbly with him. 

So to close out I have two challenges for you - which mirror Jesus’ two main messages to us. First, if you believe in a God of justice and you understand that he is offering you mercy through the cross, through Jesus - the first challenge is dedicate (or rededicate) your life to Jesus. If you have not given your life to Jesus - please, respond to his call. No matter who you are, every single one of us has sin in our lives. And it is keeping us away from God. Justice requires that evil be stamped out, that consequences come, and the punishment for sin is death. Without Jesus you are headed towards eternal death. But like the sick, the hungry, the naked, the lonely, the stranger - the vulnerable, Jesus steps in front. Jesus substitutes himself. Takes your punishment on himself and offers you freedom. If you are ready to accept Jesus as your lord and savior - I want you to pray with me right now. Take this step with me - if you want to walk humbly with God, please know that we’re walking right alongside you today. [Lord, we see that you are a God of justice, and we know that we have sinned. But we also know that you are an incredible God of mercy - who steps in front of the vulnerable - and so we take our sin, we acknowledge it, we own it, and we ask for forgiveness. Please forgive our sins. Please let your mercy wash over us - and help us to walk humbly with you from this day forward. Amen.]

And for those of you who already know Jesus, the second challenge is to become more like Jesus. And he’s made our challenge this week REALLY clear. Find ways in your life to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to visit the sick, to welcome the stranger. But please understand - that path will require surrender. That path will require sacrifice. It will cost you something to walk humbly through this life with Jesus. And so as you try to live this out this week - maybe it’s something organized - like signing up to help out with Hand 2 Hand, or becoming a mentor for Bridge of Hope. or maybe your schedule doesn’t work out for those things, and so for you - it’s less organized. Maybe you just need to bring a sick neighbor a meal,or reaching out to that one kid at school who needs gloves or a hat. When Jesus gave us this to do list of taking care of the hungry, thirsty, naked, stranger, sick and imprisoned - he wasn’t talking to an organized institution. He wasn’t talking to a church building - he was talking to the people, the real church. Taking care of these different groups of people isn’t just the dreams of a 501c3 non-profit organization - it is the life changing call to action for every single one of us. Look at this list and ask yourself, “what am I doing for the people on this list?” What do you do for the sick, those in prison, the hungry, the naked, the stranger - even just prayer. Do you, in your humble walk with God, even think about these people? Full transparency - I don’t. For all the time I spend time with God - I pray for my stuff, myself and the things I’m going through, I pray for you guys, I’ve got a whole list I pray every time - but I have made a habit of limiting my prayers to those I already know and love. But that’s not what Jesus challenges us to do. I want to challenge you, but please understand - I’m challenging me too. I’m not better than anyone in this room with this stuff. But I believe from the bottom of my heart that this stuff is how we change the world.

We live in a world full of broken people - people hurting in every possible way. But in all that brokenness, we have a God steps in front. A God who doesn’t just put on a disguise and pretend - he doesn’t just go undercover, he substitutes himself. Because he loves you. Let’s pray.