"When Did We See You, Jesus?"
Matthew 25:31-46
Children
on the playground pick teams. Littlefield folk sort ourselves into teams for
feather bowling. Fans of the Harry Potter series can’t help thinking about the
sorting hat. “Gryffindor! “Hufflepuff!” “Ravenclaw!” “Slytherin!” A place for everyone and everyone in their
place.
As Jill Duffield points out, sorting has been part of
human experience forever. “Before there were nations, there were tribes,
different languages, different cultural practices, varied roles within the
group, all designed to make sure people stayed in their lane.”[1]
We may think we know all we need to know about the
neighbor with the political yard sign that disagrees with our view. We sort
people according to where they get their news.
I think Jill Duffield could be right when she says we like
being sorted. It keeps things neater,
less stressful. We don’t need to worry about being challenged, changed, or made
uncomfortable. There have been some books written about this is recent years. The Big Sort explores how a growing number of
people have been segregating themselves, choosing to live in communities with
others who share their views.[2]
: The more people confine themselves to
likeminded company, the more extreme their views become, the more polarized
society become.
According to a 2014 Pew study of over 10,000 Americans,
the most politically engaged on each side of the spectrum see those in the
“other party” not just as wrong, but as “so misguided that they threaten the
nation’s well-being. Compared to the past, each side also increasingly gets its
news from its own television channels and websites. And so, the divide widens.[3]
The scriptures tell us that God sorts, too. Jesus talks about the sorting that will come
at the end of the age. Good fish and bad fish, separating the wheat
from the chaff, the wheat and the weeds…good fruit from bad fruit. And, in
today’s lesson, separating the sheep from the goats.
The passage opens with a vivid description of the Son of
Man’s coming in glory, seated on his throne. The nations are gathered and
sorted into two groups. Jesus is portrayed as a shepherd, which is an image
Matthew uses throughout his
Gospel.
In ancient Palestine, it was common to have mixed flocks.
At night, the shepherd would have separated the sheep from the goats. Sheep enjoyed the open air of the pasture,
while goats had to be protected from the cold. Because sheep had more
commercial value, they were preferred over goats. As shepherd, the glorious Son
of Man now separates the sheep from the goats.[4]
Today, some people sort themselves by choosing
neighborhoods, churches and schools where people look like them, act like them,
and don’t question their values and choices by their presence or viewpoints. If we get to know somebody whose first
language isn’t English, whose skin is a different color, who follows a
different religious path, who votes differently, or who questions our church’s
positions, if we form relationships and have honest and civil conversations
with them, we need to acknowledge our prejudices and see the humanity in groups
we have seen as “other.” We need to
learn how to talk about why we believe what we believe in a respectful and
civil manner. We need to listen when
others share their experiences and beliefs. That’s hard work.
A lot of people sort themselves to stay with people like
themselves. But I don’t think God sorts like that.
So, what does this passage mean? The way Matthew tells it, this is Jesus’ last
formal act of teaching. We hear that the
Son of Man will separate the sheep and the goats. For the sheep, the news is
good. They’re given a divine blessing and told they are the true heirs of God’s
kingdom because they provided food, drink, hospitality, clothing, and care for
the Son of Man. The goats were condemned because they did none of these acts of
mercy.
I wondered: is this a traditional morality tale about how
those who do good deeds are rewarded and
those who don’t are punished? Is that what this is?
The sheep had no idea that, in their acts of compassion
toward people in need, they were ministering to the Son of Man. They were stunned and exclaimed, “Lord, when was
it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in
prison and took care of you?”
The goats had no idea that, in their indifference, they
were neglecting the Lord of all nations. “When was it when we saw you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn’t take care of you?”
The surprising reply is that whenever they acted--or failed
to act--in compassion to one of “the least”, they did so to Jesus Christ.
So…where’s the good news in this parable?
I was wondering about this when I read what a colleague
wrote about how she visits her doctor every year for a complete physical
examination. Much as she might want to avoid it, heart disease runs in her
family, so she has a wellness exam. If her LDL cholesterol level is on the
rise, she knows to cut down on the cookies and other treats and to add a few
extra miles to her daily routine. If they would find a lump, she’d go in for
more assessment and take steps needed to treat it, to regain her health, and ensure
long-term wellness.
In many ways, she says, Matthew’s depiction of the last
judgment is like a wellness check. “Its purpose is not to condemn or scare, but
to provide a snapshot of our overall health, development, learning, and growth
that should lead to new habits and ways of life. As our doctor wants us to flourish, so does
our Creator, Redeemer, Judge, and King.”[5]
As human beings, we all have a tendency to a kind of
heart trouble that gets in the way of seeing the face of Christ in those in
prison, the hungry and the sick.
These
words of Jesus are profound and radical. They challenge us as individuals when
we encounter somebody asking for money in the grocery store parking lot or on
the street. After all, we can’t help everyone. Most of us don’t have either the
money or the time. Anyway, how do we tell who is truly needy and who simply
wants money to buy drugs or a bottle of cheap wine?
We need to remember that this passage tells us that the nations
will be judged by how compassionately--or not-- we treat those who are in need.
God created the world out of an abundance of love. God is love, and repeatedly and generously
pours love out upon all people. God
sent Jesus to come and live among us, full of grace and truth, teaching and
showing us what it means to be created in God’s image.
In particular, we are called to love those are seem
unable to give back. We are called to love our neighbors in need-- not to earn
God’s love or to make sure we’re considered righteous at the time of judgment.
We are called to give as a response to the love that is in us because God first
loved us.
Anne Lamott tweeted,
"Who was it who said that to get into heaven, you needed a letter of
recommendation from the poor? What a buzzkill." It may sound that way until you feed, clothe, visit, and welcome some of the least of these yourself. Then you realize they have as much dignity and humanity as anyone else. You begin to see that we are just as vulnerable to the ups and downs of life as they are, and our heart enlarges because of it. Then you realize: It's not really about charity-- it’s about conversion.
God is a God of surprises! God came to be Immanuel--“God-with-us” -- in
the form of a vulnerable infant. God
didn’t come to conquer the world with military or political might, but instead,
in the scandal, shame, and pain of the cross.
God continues to come where we least expect God to be-- in the plight of
the homeless, of refugees, on the side of the poor, in the company of those who
are imprisoned.
“When did we see you, Lord Jesus?”
The good news is that God is with us, here and now, revealed
to us in word and sacrament and in the fellowship of broken people we call church. God is with us when we go out to embody God’s
love in the world, especially when we meet God in acts of mercy and service.
God is with us, touching our hearts with love, saving us
from obsessing about ourselves and our needs and
encouraging us to search for the face of God in the faces of those in need. God
is with us, teaching us to take joy in acts of compassion and mercy.
Thanks be to God!
Rev. Fran Hayes, Pastor
Littlefield Presbyterian
Church
Dearborn, Michigan
November 26, 2017
[1]
Jill Duffield, “Looking Into the Lectionary: Christ the King Sunday, November
26, 2017”, in The Presbyterian Outlook.
http://pres-outlook.org/category/ministry-resources/looking-into-the-lectionary/
[2]
Bill Bishop and Robert G. Cushing, The
Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded Americans Is Tearing Us Apart. (Houghton
Mifflin), 2008.
[3]
Arlie Russell Hochschild, Strangers in
Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (The New Press,
2016).
[4]
Thomas D. Stegman, SJ, in Feasting on the
Word, Year A, Volume 4: Season After Pentecost. Kindle version, Location
12013.
[5]
Lindsay P. Armstrong, in Feasting on the
Word: Year A, Volume 4: Season after Pentecost. Kindle version, Location
12022.
