The Lutheran Hour: Sunday, November 26, 2023

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Episode Transcript

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The Lutheran Hour bringing Christ to thenations. Are we saved because we show
mercy? Or do we show mercybecause we're saved? It turns out that
when Jesus comes into our hearts,he brings along with him all the hurting

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people of our world. By faithand the work of the Holy Spirit,
we become more and more like Christ. And becoming more and more like Christ
means showing more and more mercy tothose who cannot help themselves. Guest speaker
Doctor Dean nattisde with a message aboutsheep, goats and mercy today on the
Lutheran Hour. Hi, this isMark Eisher. Thanks for making the Lutheran

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Hour part of your week. Beforewe hear from doctor Natas Dy, here's
Lutheran Hour speaker Doctor Michael Zigler.Thank you for your prayers and financial gifts.
The Lutheran Hour is made possible bydonations from listeners like you. This
is the final week of our fallgiving campaign, so if you haven't had
a chance to donate, I hopeyou'll consider taking that step Today. Everyone

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is struggling in some way, andthis is like wrapping your arm around someone
who needs to hear the Gospel Youcan donate online at lutheranowur dot org,
slash give or call us Monday throughFriday at eight hundred eight seven six nine
eight eight zero. Thank you andplease keep us in prayer. The Reverend

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doctor Dean Nattis D is President Emeritusof the Minnesota South District of the Lutheran
Church. Missouri Senate now with amessage titled Loving Mercy. Here is Doctor
Natas D. God's word for todayis from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter
twenty five, verses thirty four throughforty. Then the King will say to

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those on his right, come you, who are blessed by my Father inherit
the Kingdom prepared for you from thefoundation of the world. For I was
hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me
drink. I was a stranger andyou welcomed me. I was naked and
you clothed me. I was sickand you visited me. I was in

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prison and you came to me.Then the righteous will answer him, saying,
Lord, when did we see youhungry and feed you, or thirsty
and give you drink? When didwe see you as stranger and welcome you?
Or naked and clothe you. Andwhen did we see you sick or
in prison? And visit you?And the King will answer them. Truly,
I say to you, as youdid it to one of the least
of these, my brothers, youdid it to me. Let us pray,

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Lord, by your spirit, giveus faith to see you hidden among
the poor and the helpless. Respondwith mercy. Your mercy has saved us.
Lord, teach us to love,showing mercy toward those who cannot help
themselves. In your name, Amen. Over fifty years ago, two behavioral

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psychologists conducted the famous Good Samaritan experimentat Princeton University. They chose forty students
at Princeton Theological Seminary, interviewed eachof them, and sent them out one
by one with an assignment. Somewere told that they were going to the
next building and there would present abrief talk on the parable of the Good
Samaritan. Others were told to goto the next building and present a talk

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on jobs at the seminary. Athird of the group was told that they
had little time and needed to getright over to present their talk asap since
people were waiting. Another third ofthe group was told that they needed to
be on their way soon. Thefinal third was told that there was no
rush. Unknown to these future pastorswas the fact that they would be confronted

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on the way by an actor theresearch Wach had planted in an alley doorway
between the two buildings. He wascoughing and clearly in need of help.
What would the seminarians do? Wouldthey keep going or stop? Would they
be the priest and the levite whowalk on by. Would they be the
good sam and stop to offer mercy? The results were telling the assignment that

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is what the seminarians were thinking abouton the way. Speaking on the good
Samaritan or speaking on job opportunities oncampus made no difference in the outcome.
There was a difference, though,among the three groups who were given different
time pressures. Among the group thatwas told they needed to hustle over to
the next building right away, onlyten percent stopped to assist the guy in

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trouble. Some actually stepped over thelegs of the helpless man. Among those
who were told they had a littlemore time, forty five percent stopped to
help. Among those who believed thatthey had a lot of time before their
presentation, sixty percent helped. Overall, only about forty percent of those studying
for the ministry stop for mercy's saketo help a guy who clearly couldn't help

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himself. Researchers concluded that working againsta willingness to show mercy to those in
need are not only the time pressure, as we feel, but also the
conflicting commitments vying for our attention.Their decision to show mercy or not turned
on their time constraints and their commitmentto another task. I thought of this

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old experiment again as I read throughJesus' story of the Sheep and the Goats
in Matthew twenty five. Throughout theBible, God tells us to care for
the poor, the widow, theorphan, the homeless, and the sick.
The Law, the prophets, andthe New Testament all hold up this
value. In Micah six, verseeight, the prophet Micah summarizes the requirements

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which God places on the ancient peopleof Judah and on us. It's a
favorite verse of many. He hasshown you, o mortal, what is
good and what does the Lord requireof you? To act justly and to
love mercy and to walk humbly withyour God loving mercy is at the heart
of the Christian faith. This ismore than just loving the concept or the

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idea of mercy. It's a lovefor showing mercy. If we're actually doing
mercy, despite the time crunch thatmay rule our lives, and despite the
myriad of other responsibilities we may have, God expects us to help those who
cannot help themselves, and to lovedoing it. Jesus Sheep and Ghat's story
takes this concept of loving mercy toanother level. With this story, acts

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of mercy become measures of faith.Acts of mercy take on an eternal dimension.
They matter in the Last Judgment.As James Forbes once wrote, it
appears that nobody gets to Heaven withouta letter of reference from the poor.
The story Jesus tells it's the lastin a series of stories in Matthew twenty

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four and twenty five meant to preparehis disciples for his return in Glory.
Last formal teaching of Jesus in theGospel of Matthew before the account of jesus
Passion, death, and resurrection,Jesus makes it clear that he wants us
to be ready when he comes againin Glory to judge the nations. It
turns out that a part of thatreadiness is a love of mercy, helping

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those who cannot help themselves along theway. Mercy, it turns out,
matters for eternity. In Jesus' story, he calls himself the son of Man.
This is one of his favorite selfdesignations from the Book of Daniel,
marking him as the Messiah. Hesits enthroned as both king and judge.
There are three groups of people inthe story. The rights a sheep he

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sends to his right hand, thecursed goats he sends to his left,
and the least of these, whowere hungry, thirsty, homeless, naked,
sick, and in prison. Peoplein Jesus day were used to seeing
sheep and goats grazing together, butthey also knew that shepherds would I separate
the sheep and goats. Goats candestroy a pasture quickly, and generally,

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sheep are just better followers than goats. In Jesus' story, the shepherd,
king and judge speaks first to thoseon his right, the sheep. He
calls them blessed and welcomes them intotheir inheritance. The eternal kingdom prepared for
them. They respond with wonder.Then Jesus speaks to those on his left
the goats, calling them cursed andsending them into eternal punishment, and in

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both cases showing mercy is the criterionfor judgment. Those on the right had
shown mercy to the helpless, thoseon the left had not. Four times,
as Jesus tells the story, alist of six mercies is repeated,
feeding the hungry, giving a drinkto the thirsty, welcoming the homeless,

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clothing the naked, caring for thesick, and visiting those in prison.
Mercy matters for eternity. At Ravennain Italy, a sixth century Basilica church
houses a mosaic depicting this story Jesustells. Seated at the judgment seat is
Jesus, dressed in royal purple.His halo includes across with three blue jewels.

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He's flanked by two angels who lookaway. His right hand welcomes three
sheep to his right, almost signalingthem as an example a motivation. At
Jesus left our three goats at alower level. He in no way acknowledges
their presence. What haunts the viewer, though, are the eyes of King
Jesus riveted straight ahead toward anyone lookingin. He has told this story for

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us, and it's as if he'sasking each of us, which one are
you, sheep or goat? Andour answer it will hinge on loving mercy.
We need to say more about thisso that we don't walk away think
I better get busy showing mercy tothe helpless, or I won't make it

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into heaven. That would miss Jesus'point completely. So please listen. This
is very important. These acts ofmercy do not make the sheep righteous.
They are rather the acts of thosewho are already righteous by grace through their
faith in Jesus Christ. Their faithshows itself in mercy. In mercy,
God has saved us helpless as weare to save ourselves. Titus three says

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it perfectly. But when the goodnessand loving kindness of God, our savior,
appeared, he saved us not becauseof works done by us in righteousness,
but according to his own mercy.The sheep don't move to the right
side because they've earned it through hardacts of mercy. They move because,
as Jesus says, they are blessedby his father, because this is their

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inheritance. He says that inheritance offaith is confirmed and completed in their acts
of mercy. It turns out thatwhen Jesus comes into our hearts, he
brings along with him all the hurtingpeople of our world. By faith and
the work of the Holy Spirit,we become more and more like Christ.
And becoming more and more like Christmeans showing more and more mercy to those

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who cannot help themselves. As forthe goats, it's not their failure to
show mercy that sends them to theleft and eternal punishment. It's their lack
of faith. Their lack of mercytoward others reveals their lack of faith in
Jesus Christ. They are not righteousby faith, and their lack of showing
mercy proves it. How did Jamessay it, Faith by itself, if

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it does not have works, isdead. So the separation of the sheep
and the goats is not determined bywhat they did or by what they failed
to do, but by who theyare, those with faith and those without
it. There is one more elementin this story, especially worth mentioning.
It's the element of surprise. Thesheep are surprised to hear Jesus say that

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he was the one who received mercy. When they fed the hungry and gave
the thirsty a drink, when theywelcomed the stranger, and clothed the naked,
when they cared for the sick,and visited those in prison. When
did we ever see you in needand show you mercy? They ask?
When you did it to the leastof these my brothers, Jesus answered,
you did it to me. Theyhad missed seeing Jesus and the poor and

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the helpless, but he was there. They end up looking much like George
Bailey in the classic film It's aWonderful Life, who discovers that unknowingly he
has blessed the lives of many inhis community simply by being who he is,
a kind person with a heart forhelping others. Mercy showers don't keep

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score. They don't look for recognitionor a Servant of the Year award.
They just show mercy simply because,as Jesus liked to say, good trees
bear good fruit. The goats onthe left are just as surprised to hear
Jesus say that when he needed theirmercy, they did not respond. When
did we ever see you hungry,thirsty, a stranger, or naked,

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sick or in prison, and didn'thelp you, Jesus responds, when you
fail to show mercy to the leastof these, you failed to show mercy
to me. The righteous acted infaith and did what Jesus does. They
showed mercy to the poor, thecursed, as Jesus calls them, ignored

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the needs of others, caring mostfor themselves, and ultimately getting just that
in the end themselves. For boththough there was more going on in their
acts of mercy than they could see. It is that way often with Christ.
He is present where we do notexpect to see him. He is

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hidden in the ordinary, but especiallyamong the poor and the suffering. We
recognize him in the spiritual realm andthe Word, and baptism and communion.
We expect to see him in church, But not in the emaciated body of
a malenourished child, not in themom looking for winter jackets for her kids,
Not in this ninety two year oldat home alone with a bad heart.

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As Dietrich Bonhaefer put it, Christgoes incognito as a beggar among beggars,
as an outcast among the outcast,despairing among the despairing, dying among
the dying. But now we know, because Jesus wants us to know,
he comes to us hidden in thenext person who needs our mercy. Tim

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Keller closed out his book Generous Justicewith the story of a very wealthy older
woman. She had never married andso had no children to whom she could
leave her estate. She had anephew, though, who was hoping to
be that beneficiary. He'd always beenwarm and courteous in her pre tent of
to her needs. Yet she hadheard otherwise from a few others who would

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receive and ultimately manage her significant wealthclearly mannered to her, so she planned
to test. One morning, Shedressed in old, tattered clothes, disguised
herself and lay on the steps ofher son's city townhouse as if she were
homeless. Sure enough, her nephewcame out, not recognizing her. He
cursed at her, telling her toget up and leave, or he called

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the police. She learned her nephew'strue nature that morning. In his response
to the poor woman on his steps, he showed who he really was.
His kindness had been calculated, andhe lost his inheritance. The beauty of
the six mercies in Jesus' story isthat they are never far from us wherever

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we live, not far from usas someone who is hungry or thirsty,
homeless or without adequate clothing, sick, or incarcerated. In the United States,
for example, twelve of the population, or forty one million people are
hungry. Worldwide, that number isat three hundred and forty five million.
Will we show mercy and how Thewonder of God's mercy toward us, and

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no doubt toward those seminarians who failto show mercy and the good Samaritan experiment
is that mercy will be there forus. When we pass by these opportunities
for mercy. We cheapen God's mercytoward us when we fail to show mercy
toward others. What it takes isa Christian faith that loves mercy as Christ

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loves mercy. Jesus first came amongus as hidden, disguised, incognito.
To many, he was just anotherrabbi. Uniquely, though, Jesus could
be found among those needing mercy,the hungry, the sick, the poor,
the grieving, the outcast, andlittle children. He was homeless himself,

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with no place to rest his head. This hiddenness of Christ reached its
peak when he allowed himself to becrucified among thieves, a criminal, forsaken
by his friends, even by hisfather. On the cross, Jesus entered
your world of need. You werethe one hungry and thirsty for righteousness.
You were the poor with the debtyou could not pay. You were the

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one imprisoned by sin. And hecame for you in mercy. By grace
you see it, and by graceyou will see him and the next helpless
person waiting for your mercy. Youlove mercy because you love Jesus, the
son of God and the son ofMan, who will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead. Amen. Please pray with me,

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Lord Jesus, help us to lovemercy, for in loving mercy we will
become more and more like you bewith all who suffer. This day,
Lead your people, Lord, intoselfless acts of mercy across the world.
Amen, you're listening to the Lutheranhour. Today is the last Sunday of

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the Church. Here the hymn ofthe day is the Head that once was
crowned with thorns, sung for usnow by the choirs of Concordia University,
Wisconsin, in a setting by JohnBenkie. Most st say it's toss s

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S s t not so called atchoice school, enough speak. Christmas is

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often a time of reflection. Onthis lutheranaw er a special presentation. Empty
boxes reflect with us. This caris so old, the radio doesn't really
work. It's okay, I knowit's cold. Give it a minute that
you don't get going. When ayoung man contemplates the empty things of life,

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he discovers a truth he'll ponder foryears to come. The moment comes
not in a classroom, but ina car, just after midnight, as
Christmas Eve turns to Christmas Day,just a few miles down the road from
somewhere from anywhere. When a youngman realized that the world is not what

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it seems, he was aware ofthe emptiness inside even from that young age.
He worked hard that Christmas to fakesurprise and to fake happiness, but
looking at the toy, he suddenlyrealized it was just a toy. For
the rest of his life, hewould hear various theories for why he would
say, yes, it's because you'rethe firstborn you're a people pleaser, you're

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trying to earn favor with gone,You're really just searching for affirmation and validation.
In the end, they were alljust empty boxes. He wasn't sure
how he discovered the box was empty. It was probably a lot of things,
but he had known for years.Life since then had only confirmed it.
The box was empty, and lifegoing forward only served to emphasize that

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time and again, an empty boxmay not be what it seems, because
the world is not what it appearsto be, because God has moved in
with us. Don't miss this specialChristmas presentation, Empty Boxes, brought to
you by the Lutheran Hour. Formore information, go to LHM dot org.

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Inside to stop at st st stormingfor cross textream to cross stipe case

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its constant the stile and in startingthe statop speak a setting by John Egert

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of the hymn No Saint on EarthLives Life to self alone. Now Doctor
Dean, that is Dee, invitesus to join him in praying the Lord's
prayer. Remember us in your kingdom, Lord, and teach us to pray
our Father who art in heaven.Hallowood, be thy name, Thy Kingdom,

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Come thy will be done on earthas it is in Heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread,and forgive us our trespasses, as we
forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil. For Thineis the Kingdom and the Power and the
Glory Forever endeavor. Amen, TheLord, bless you and keep you.

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The Lord make his face shine onyou, and be gracious to you.
The Lord look upon you with favorand give you peace. Amen. The
Lutheran Hour is brought to you eachweek through the support of listeners like you.
We rely on your prayers and gifts. To learn how you can support
and extend the world wide outreach ofthe Lutheran Hour, go to Lutheranour dot

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org. Next week, doctor MichaelZiggler returns with a message about distress signals
and the God who answers even beforewe call. This has been a presentation
of Lutheran Our Ministries O