"Pleading Guilty"

Matthew 25:11-46

Pastor Tom Johnson, November 23, 2014

[Story from The Empty Pot by Demi; http://www.amazon.com/The-Empty-Pot-Demi/dp/0805012176/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0]

“A long time ago in China there was a boy named Ping who loved flowers.” When Ping planted flowers, they seemed to just spring up without much effort and by his sheer love for their beauty and aroma. One day, Ping heard that the Emperor was calling on all children to grow flowers for him. Like Ping, “the Emperor loved birds and animals, but flowers most of all, and he tended his own garden every day. But the Emperor was very old. He needed to choose a successor to the throne. All the children in the land were to come to the palace. There they would be given special flower seeds by the Emperor. ‘Whoever can show me their best I a year’s time,’ he said, ‘will succeed me to the throne.’” And so all the children got busy with their seed, finding the right soil, and choosing their flower pots. No matter what Ping did, however, the seed would not grow. The rich soil and carefully chosen pot did not bring even a little seedling—not even a sprout. Changing the soil and putting different amounts of water in the pot produced nothing. Ping had no flower to present to the Emperor. It was time for the children in the land to come to the palace. “Spring came, and all the children put on their best clothes to greet the Emperor. They rushed to the palace with their beautiful flowers.”

And so it is in our Gospel text: the sheep and the goats stand before the King of Heaven and Earth. King Jesus wants an account of their works—our works. He wants to know what we have done with the seed of the Gospel planted into our lives and into the lives of those around us To the sheep, he says, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food…thirsty and you gave me drink…a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, sick and in prison and you visited me.” “Lord, when did we do that?” “We are empty of good works. We have not served you as you have commanded. We can’t plead our own righteousness. We are guilty.”

To the goats, Jesus says, “Depart from me, you cursed.” “For I was hungry and you did not give me food…thirsty and you did not give me drink…a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” “Lord, when did we did we not do that?” “We are full of good works. We have served you as you have commanded. We plead our own righteousness. We are innocent of violating your law.”

“Spring came, and all the children put on their best clothes to greet the Emperor. They rushed to the palace with their beautiful flowers.” Ping also received the call to go to the Emperor. Ping’s father told him he should go too. But Ping did not see any point. He had no flowers like the children he saw making their way to the Emperor’s palace. “Ping’s father said, ‘You did your best, and your best is good enough to present to the Emperor.’” And so, Ping brought his empty pot to the Emperor. When Ping finally had his turn to present himself, he said, “I planted the seed you gave me and I watered it everyday, but it didn’t sprout. I put it in a better pot with better soil, but still it didn’t sprout! I tended it all year long, but nothing grew. So today I had to bring an empty pot without a flower. It was the best I could do.” The emperor stood up and took a deep breath in. With a commanding voice he said, “I have found him! I have found the one person worthy of being Emperor!”

To the children with the pots with flowers, he said, “Where you got your seeds from, I do not know. For the seeds I gave you had all been cooked. So it was impossible for any of them to grow.” And turning to Ping, he said, “I admire Ping’s great courage to appear before me with the empty truth, and now I reward him with my entire kingdom and make him Emperor of all the land!”

We also come to the emperor with empty pots. We come to Christ empty of good works. We stand before his with no flowery righteousness. We plead guilty. Like Ping, we serve God with our left hand not knowing what our right hand is doing (Matt 6:3). We serve with holy ignorance because our faith and trust is not in ourselves and what we believe we can do for God. When we are honest with ourselves and with God, we can only say, “We are unworthy servants” (Luke 17:10). In our plea of guilt, we proclaim the righteousness of Christ, the King. We throw ourselves into the hands of his mercy—hands that bore the judgment for our sin—hands marked with the nails of the Cross. We confess our guilt. Christ’s proclaims our forgiveness and gives us eternal righteousness and worthiness. 

Nothing in my hand I bring
Simply to Thy cross I cling
Naked come to Thee for dress
Helpless, look to Thee for grace.