SERMON

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2002

CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER

“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, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.  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; 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, 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.’” (Matthew 25:32-36)  

Some of you will recall that last Sunday we tried to deal with the wrath of God, the Day of the Lord, and other frightful themes expressed by the prophet Zephaniah.  This week on this last Sunday before Advent we encounter another approach to divine judgment, in the words of Jesus.  He is talking about the last things, the end of time, that moment when the Son of Man will return to judge the people.  He is talking very plainly about accountability, yours and mine.  Jesus sets up a sort of “compare and contrast” scene for our learning.  He envisions a vast gathering of the people of God divided into two parts: the righteous and the accursed.  I see this happening in some massive stadium in which the good people are on one set of bleachers, the bad people on the other, and the Son of Man is speaking in the middle to the throng.  Against such an Olympic background he offers a simple proposition, “I was hungry” and so forth.  In fact he offers two propositions, one positive and the other negative.  Both appear as likely scenarios. 

But you see he is speaking about himself, the wandering rabbi known to nearly everyone in his time, accepted by some, rejected by others.  Jesus did not inspire neutrality.  In fact he was well aware of the good and the bad, the haves and have-nots, the faithful and the fickle.  Jesus knew human nature.  Humanity was both his congregation and his curriculum. Come with me to that stadium (not to be confused with Soldiers Field) and witness this amazing moment.  Jesus uses that enigmatic title for himself, an appellation with roots in the writings of Daniel and other mystical writers.  “The Son of Man” means Jesus the Christ, the recognized figure of the man from Nazareth, now at the end of history, glorified and full of glory and power.  One imagines the lights very bright, the night dark, the wonder of it all.   

He invites the blessed of God, the chosen righteous, to inherit the kingdom for which they have ever been destined, their reward, their blissful eternal life.  He compliments them and reminds them of the good deeds they have done to HIM, not to just any fellow human, but to HIM.  I was thirsty, in prison, sick, naked, and hungry.  They don’t get it.  When did we do that for you, O Son of Man?  Fair question.  The rapid answer startles them, “I tell you, as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”  Ah, the light dawns.  Now they begin to understand the gratitude of God.  QUESTION: What family does he mean? ANSWER: All the children of God, his followers, anyone who has known hunger, thirst, abandonment, illness.  Jesus, related to every one of us, is teaching us that in every person abides something of Jesus, a connection to his grace and pain and wonderful ideas.  We are connected to him through everyone else, particularly the people whom we help, to whom we give, for whom we make time in our busy lives.  Once the people to his right get the point, they understand that God through Christ is thanking them.  You and I think that in our prayers we must continually thank God, and well we must.  However, we need to learn to accept the thanks that God offers to US.  It is more blessed to receive, sometimes, than it is to give.

My spiritual director for whom I hold the greatest respect and affection reminds me often to be alert to the gratitude of God, and to accept that thanks.  If we don’t receive God’s gratitude, how can we know that God loves us?   

Don’t forget the people to the left, the so-called “accursed” that are just as puzzled as the righteous are.  Jesus the King tells them about when they did not visit or feed or welcome him?  Their confused reply says more or less, “But when did we see you in need and neglect to see to you?”  Implied answer from the King – “all the time”, for if you did not care for the least of these, you surely did not care for me.  The people on the left side of the stadium are in deep disgrace and will “go away into eternal punishment” instead of eternal life.  That sentence is where the doom comes in, just as in Zephaniah and all the other prophets from the Hebrew Scriptures.  

Who are the “least of these who are members of my family” in our time?  I would suggest that they are exactly the same people on the margins of society as in the days of Jesus: the millions who go to bed hungry each day, the naked children of the streets of AIDS-torn Africa, those sent to jail without a fair trial, those who are unwelcome because of race or creed, and those who thirst not only for water in a time of drought but those who thirst for a voice to be heard by the powerful.

This week religious and civic organizations people will give away food and other items for the people who do not have enough, or any, we offer our Thanksgiving food to the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Boston, just a block or two from the State House.  That historic parish ministers daily to the hungry and homeless, and on Thanksgiving they will have a great feast for the men, women, and children who have neither Thanksgiving table nor family.  In their present circumstances they are truly “the least of these who are members of my family” as Jesus put it.  Being least is not a judgment of individual human quality.  Consider in our time, when we have so much as a people, that any person should be hungry or homeless mocks the hope of democracy.   We must help, and we will.  Each of the people who share the food we send is a dwelling place for God.  Each has great value, dignity, and human potential.  In the great scheme of things, I suppose, turkeys and vegetables, nuts, pickles, and all the fixings seem insignificant; yet they are a sign of caring, a sign that at least on this one day all who hunger will be fed, those who are thirsty will be given something to drink, those without adequate clothing will be clothed, and those who are strangers will be welcomed to the table.  AMEN.  

                                                                   The Rev. Richard H. Downes

 Return to Sermons Page