Matthew 24:31-46
Evidence of True Worship

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 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. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"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. 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, 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.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"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. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 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.'

"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?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

New International Version

In the meditation based on John 4:19-24, we read about Jesus' discussion with the woman at the well in Samaria, and specifically as Jesus taught that we are not to worship God on our terms and according to our stipulations, but on God's terms. That topic begs the question of how we can know that we are worshipping on God's terms.

It would be convenient to have an answer expressed in carefully defined patterns of worship, so that we can compare our worship experiences with God's rule book and see how we measure up. But as I read the gospel accounts, it seems to me that Jesus emphasized the results of true worship in us more than he discussed our methods of worship. The results of worship include a committed devotion to God ("Love the Lord your God with all your heart...") and an active, unselfish agape love for people ("Love your neighbor as yourself").

No passage is clearer on this issue than the teaching of Jesus recorded in this section of Matthew. This section is sometimes called the "parable of the sheep and goats", but the message is not a parable--an idealized fictional story to demonstrate a truth. Jesus's main character is not a nameless person, as in many parables, but God. Jesus's didn't preface the story with the usual parable introduction, like he did in Matthew 25:1: "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like..." Jesus presented this scene in heaven as a conversation we will have with God, discussing our love for God as evidenced by how we ministered to other people.

I do not want to suggest that our only appropriate worship of God is to do good works for other people. Spiritual lives that are focused only on good deeds are as incomplete and dysfunctional as spiritual lives focused only on spiritual matters. As James 2:18 puts it, "Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do."

James also has the sequence right. We have to give ourselves to God first before we can give ourselves in holy service to others. If we get the order wrong, our deeds of faith are based on our own strength and motivations. Notice the response of the "sheep" in the Matthew passage--they were surprised that they were ministering to God! We can tell their motivation in serving others was not to win rewards in heaven or gain praise from other people, so we can be certain that their loving service was a natural response to the presence of God alive and active in their hearts.

In whatever way they worshipped, in however they drew closer to God and allowed the will of God to control their lives, it must have been worship on God's terms. They were offering themselves as "living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God", as Romans 12:1 expresses it, and the result of their worship was demonstrated in how they showed love to others.