We finished Matthew 25 with the sheep and the goats. The sermon was called "Answers To The Final Exam," and yes, you will be quizzed at the end.
I started with a 1973 study from Princeton. Seminary students, some of them on their way to give a talk on the Good Samaritan, walked past a man slumped in a doorway. Whether they stopped had almost nothing to do with the talk and almost everything to do with whether they were running late. A few of them literally stepped over him. As a pastor, I'm offended.
That turns out to be the whole passage. Neither the sheep nor the goats knew what they were doing. Also this week: Abraham at ninety-nine running out to meet three strangers, why visiting someone in a Roman prison cost you something, and the one word Matthew adds in 26:1.
Three things you'll hear in group: "Do I get into heaven by helping people?", "the least of these" turning political, and the person who leaves sure they're a goat.
This one's shorter. I'm trying a highlights version instead of walking through the whole guide. Tell me what you think about the length, the format, the music, anything. Nothing's off the table.
In this episode
- 0:00 Cold open: the 1973 Princeton study, and who stops for the man in the doorway
- 1:05 Welcome to week six, and the big idea
- 1:40 Where to slow down in the guide: the noticing warm-up, both groups surprised (Know It 1), small counts (Share It 1), the kitchen-table midterm (Live It 1), and this week's Kinship Question
- 3:25 The rabbit hole: why hurry shrinks what we see, Hebrews 13 and Abraham's three strangers, hospitality as survival, Roman prisons, and the word "all" in Matthew 26:1
- 6:20 Three things you'll hear in group: "Do I get into heaven by helping people?", "the least of these" and politics, and "What if I'm a goat?"
- 8:30 One tiny practical thing: leave for group ten minutes early. For science.
- 8:40 For you in particular: the sheep didn't know either
- 9:25 Help shape this podcast: length, format, music
Scripture in this episode
- Matthew 25:31–46 (the passage)
- Matthew 25:37–39 and 44 (both groups ask "when did we see you?")
- Matthew 25:34 (the kingdom "prepared for you since the creation of the world")
- Hebrews 13:2–3 (hospitality to strangers; remember those in prison)
- Genesis 18:1–8 (Abraham and the three visitors)
- 2 Timothy 1:16 (Onesiphorus, not ashamed of Paul's chains)
- Matthew 26:1 ("when Jesus had finished saying all these things")
- Ephesians 2:8–10 (saved by grace, for good works)
Mentioned
- John Darley and Daniel Batson, "From Jerusalem to Jericho" (1973), the Good Samaritan experiment at Princeton Theological Seminary
- Hospitality in the ancient world: for a traveler, a stranger's tent was how you made it
- Roman prisons: prisoners depended on family and friends for food
- Passing the final exam is easier as a group project: who's one person your group or your family could start with this week?
Links