Sermon Title: Sermon – Jesus Wish List
Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
This text may seem like a strange passage to read during Advent – it speaks more of prophecy and the return of Christ than it does of the birth of Christ. However, I believe that in this text we find what really matters to God. First, we see that God cares about what we do and, even more importantly, who we are. Our actions count and when we are selfish and self-centered, we act in a way that is counter to how God wants us to live. His desire is to transform our hearts so that we can live selflessly and loving others through the power of the Holy Spirit.
God also cares for the poor and needy. This text makes that very clear, but we also find passage after passage throughout the Bible that speaks about God concern and love for those who are in need. Make no mistake about it: God is partial to those who are weak. God desires that we, too, make those in need an important part of our life. As followers of Christ, we have no excuse for ignoring the poor.
But more than anything else, God desires to have a relationship with every human being. This is the true message of Christmas – God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us so that He could have a relationship with us. This is the “love” that is found in Christmas – God loves us with the greatest love that could ever be expressed. What is the greatest thing that you could give to God? Your heart and life. He desires you – will you give yourself to Him?
This coming Sunday we will talk more about what Jesus wants the most as we continue our sermon series, “A Different Kind of Christmas.” Hope to see you then!
