Today’s gospel lesson is one of those hard sayings from the Bible. And as one preacher put it, “There are no hymns based on this passage, and very few pictures –none in the Sunday school classrooms. This is an apocalyptic reading worthy of the Revelation of John.
Today is the last Sunday of the church year – Christ the King Sunday. It culminates in the acknowledgement of Jesus as the King of kings and Lord of Lords. We are to the point of knowing that it is not enough to think of Jesus as our friend or brother. It’s not enough to think of Jesus as a great teacher or healer. Jesus is all of these things, but as Paul puts it in the letter to the Corinthians, “God has put all things in subjection under him.”
We've been building up to this point for some time now There is an underlying assumption that all who belong to Christ will be included in his kingdom. It goes so far as to intimate that if you are a member of Christ’s body, you really have to work at it in order to be excluded from his kingdom.
Last week we heard the story of three servants who were each given a great gift from their master when he left on a journey. The assumption is that these were trusted members of the master’s extended household.
Two servants use their gifts wisely and bear much fruit. The third, however, is fearful and allows his fearfulness to control his actions. Instead of using the gift he was given, he buried it – as if it had never existed. And when the master comes back, he gives the gift to someone who will use it, and casts out the lazy and fearful servant.
Today’s story is not a parable. A parable always starts with common everyday images and projects a heavenly connection. Today’s story starts with the heavenly connection – the King sits on the throne and all the nations pass before him. And we see the sheep separated from the goats and we see the goats cast down to eternal punishment. That’s great as long as you know you are a sheep. But for many of us it grates against our sensitivities, because even if we think we might pass the muster, we know and love people who might not pass.
We're living in a time and culture that is something of an enigma. On one hand, in the business world, it's a dog eat dog world (or in the case we might call it a goat’s world) - companies swallow up “mom-and-pop operations’ - Donald Trump used to give young aspiring executives an opportunity of a lifetime and then publicly fire them on TV for not being as good as someone else.
Some of the most popular shows are shows like “Survivor,” and “Dancing with the Stars” and “American Idol” and “the Voice” – where someone is voted off the island (or wherever they happen to be) and there are shows in which people are ridiculed as they are cut from the show. It’s interesting how so many people in the world today enjoy seeing other people get trampled and kicked and thrown out. Casting people out into the outer darkness – off the sets – seems to be very popular.
But when we look at other aspects of our culture, we find a tolerance that would seem to belie the above examples. There is an “all must succeed attitude” in our schools – no child left behind - and heaven forbid that any student should fail. And if they do fail, let’s not call it that, let’s call it underachieving. We don’t want to see anyone hurt or left out, so we see a side of our society where labels are bad – I’m not short, I’m vertically challenged. It really doesn’t matter what you call it – when I’m trying to reach something from the top shelf in my kitchen, my height is a hindrance.
This lesson today is not just about eternal life or damnation. It’s about how we respond to God – the presence of Jesus in our lives. If we belong to God, are truly his, then it’s going to show – not only in the things we say because talk is cheap - but more so in the things we do.
Today’s lessons are full of the images of sheep and shepherd. Ezekiel talks about the Lord as the good shepherd. Look at the things this good shepherd does… there are six -
- he searches for his sheep
- he rescues them
- he feeds them
- he binds up the crippled
- he strengthens the weak
- he watches over them.
Jesus looks for those who follow that example – the six criteria for his judgment of the people are really bound up in this idea. The six criteria from our gospel lesson:,
- I was hungry - you fed me
- I was thirsty - you gave me drink
- I was naked - you clothed me
- I was a stranger – you took me in
- I was sick - you visited me
- I was imprisoned – you came to me
We are invited to search out, rescue, feed, bind up, strengthen and watch over – in the same way that the shepherd did in Ezekiel. In Matthew 12, when his mother and brothers come looking for him, Jesus says, “Who are my mother and brothers?” The answer is not “whoever calls on my name.” The answer is “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven.” These are his mother and brothers and sisters. Amen.
How do you respond when faced with the King of kings and Lord of lords in his earthly form? Amen.
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