Dearest e-votees-
We are coming to the end of the church year—Christ the King Sunday.
Our appointed gospel text is the pointed text of the sheep and the goats in the 25th chapter of Matthew.
May we have ears and hearts and eyes to discern what God would have us see.
Peace,
Karl
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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. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then 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; 35 for 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, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then 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? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And 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.’ 41 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; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 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.’ 44 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?’ 45 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.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
One of the places to really give heed to words is when last words are being spoken. When we have seemingly unlimited upcoming visits the weather or the Green Bay Packers or the latest TV show might be appropriate conversational fodder. When we know that this exchange may well be the last (at least for a very long time) the words and the conversation take on a much more profound gravitas. These words in our appointed gospel lesson are the last teaching of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew. They are near the end of the gospel of Matthew as well--only the Passion, Resurrection and Great Commission accounts follow. Jesus knew his time was short and would not fill the void with idle chatter. He offers a powerful image of end times and what really matters. Do we have ears to hear?
A woman at my intern site, Gertrude, used to faithfully wear a button on her jacket which simply said:
People would ask about the button. Gertrude would tell them about “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” What a powerful witness.
What is so profound about this text is that no one, neither sheep nor goat, recognizes the Son of Man in those they are helping or neglecting. They are oblivious. What about us? Are we any different?
All sorts of people will cross our paths this day. We may well not even notice them. I pray we do. If we do we certainly may not discern in them the presence of the Son of Man. I pray we do. This last teaching of Jesus ought to give us pause. God is calling us to offer care and love to these hungry, lonely, sick, naked, imprisoned, thirsty souls. It really, really matters to God. It should really, really matter to us too.
And for those of us this day who are needing sustenance, feeling disenfranchised, away from healthy places, exposed, trapped by circumstances and parched we need to know that we really, really matter to the Son of Man too. Jesus empathizes with us and longs for our care and comfort. We are not alone. May many sheep cross our paths this day.
God shape us by 25:40. Teach us to see you in all we encounter particularly those on the fringes of neglect, need and neighborhood. Shape us into sheep who hear the master’s voice in the cries for mercy and care. Amen.
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