11-20-2011
Jerusalem
Matthew 25.31-46
31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ 41Then 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; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I 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.’ 44Then 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?’ 45Then 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.’ 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Christ is King! So declares our church calendar, as well as our reading from Matthew. Christ is King, but what kind of king is he? There have been many kings throughout history, some good, some not so good, so what kind of king is he? Luther saw Him as the tyrant raging, while sitting on a rainbow. Here in Matthew, he is described as sitting on a throne, separating the goats from the sheep. Whether the throne is out in the field with the sheep and goats or the sheep and goats are brought into the throne-room is unknown, and unimportant, but nonetheless, this is what Christ does as king.
So, what makes one a sheep or a goat? What is the difference between the two in Christ’s eyes? Sheep are those who fulfill the mission that God has set before them, while goats are those who deny that mission. I had a professor who said it like this, we are called to take Jesus to Jesus to do Jesus. Taking Jesus to Jesus to do Jesus. I know, it can sound confusing, so let’s break it down.
Taking Jesus means to bring the gospel and remembering that Jesus is always with us, as he promised in the Great Commission, where we are commanded to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and to teach them to obey everything Jesus commanded and remember that He is with us always, to the end of the age. Today we fulfill part of that command, as we celebrate the baptism of Ella, and her family promises to raise her within the community of faith and to teach and instruct her with Christian teachings and the to live a Christian life. And we as a community welcome her, knowing that we are also responsible for instructing her as well and to aid her as a community and family.
But in that command we are not called to only be with those within the congregation and those that we know through our families and friends. We are also called to all nations, to go forth into the world, with Christ with us. So as we go to be of aid to the poor and the hungry and the thirsty and the imprisoned, we are not alone but we are always joined by Christ, the almighty King of the World. So what have we to fear when we go out into the world to bring aid and comfort, when we know that the King of all Creation, who will never separate Himself from us is with us? Nothing, so we go, taking Christ with us.
And to whom are we bringing Jesus? We are bringing Jesus to Jesus, for He regularly aligns himself and shows partiality towards the poor and the needy. As he says in today’s lesson, when we give food to the hungry and clothing to the naked, we are doing these things to Christ himself. Often we can fall into the trap of assuming that we are always God bringing to others, to the great unwashed. But the reality is that God is already present in all situations, already suffering with those who suffer. All we do is bring light to this reality. But that light needs to be shone, in order that Christ may be seen as active in people’s lives and that God may receive the glory.
Due to Jesus’ connection to the poor, we are also called to focus on the poor, the abused, and the outcast. Jesus’ kingdom is not one of gold and fulfilled dreams, instead it is in the outskirts of so-called civilized society, it is where people rely upon Christ alone instead of themselves and on the idols that we create, it is where compassion and mercy are shown. Jesus reigns when God’s will, which is true worship, is done, which is when we act like sheep, serving and sacrificing for others. This is the calling to do Jesus, to act out Christ’s teachings and own actions. We live out the gospel when we show people the great mercy and love of God, when we go down into the trenches of society to help people climb out of the pits and the cycles that they have fallen into and cannot escape. It is not saying “people need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps” and instead realizing that some people lack boots completely, let alone bootstraps. As Jesus’ loyal subjects, we look beyond the idea of the “self-made man” and instead see all the people who are required in helping to form the opportunities for people to grow and we are called to help create those opportunities, that people may see how important they are in the eyes of God, since we are all God’s children, and that all may see the gifts and the power that they have been given by the Holy Spirit, and the forgiveness that they have been give through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
When we begin to fully embrace that power and forgiveness, we are capable of changing lives and the world around us. Our God truly is an awesome God, and we are the hands of God, so we can do some really awesome things. There is a reason that there are so many Christian Hospitals, such as St. Elizabeth’s and no hospitals based around secularism and atheism. And there is a reason that the faith of those outcast and persecuted under the Romans still stands, while we name our pets over Roman emperors. It is because God is the true King of the World, not Leo, or money, or nations, or mere humans, but Jesus Christ. And we are a part of his great kingdom, we are the hands that bring about that kingdom in the lives of people.
Not only do we go out into the world, but we also instruct and aid one another. We are called to be a community of faith, not a set of individuals. We are called to be part of a kingdom, not our own separate groups. We are called to be united, to show one another the strength that God has given us and to use that strength together to make a difference in Columbiana and the surrounding area. But we cannot do it divided, we cannot be God’s hands if we fight amongst and against one another. So we gather together on Sundays, in order that we may be strengthened by our connections with one another, so we may learn and be recharged together, and we may come up with new ideas together on how to be God’s hands. We learn to serve together as a community, we learn our history together as a community, and everything becomes a bit clearer together as a community.
Christ’s kingdom is here and now, in this room and in this world. Christ is the King, so let us follow and obey him, so that His will may be done and when that final day comes we may be united, all of us fit to be called sheep by our King.
Amen.
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