When the Son of Man Comes

Being prepared

The day has finally come to be ready with oil in our lamps. The day has finally come when our faithful risks will be rewarded. This is the day the Son of Man comes in all his glory. The day Christ the King sits on his throne and establishes his Kingdom here on earth. It’s finally here the day we’ve been faithfully ready and waiting.

Today is Christ the King Sunday. In our scripture reading today the words of Jesus bring the apocalyptic section of Matthew to its conclusion with the coming of the son of man.

What does God want us to learn from this today? Matthew 22:37-40

Matthew 22:37–40 NRSV

37 He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

In a nut shell God wants us to understand to truly love him we must love the least of these. We must dare to see God in the face of those others would ignore. As we wrestle with this passage lets open our ears and our hearts to what God has to say to us this morning.

The Final Judgement

Hebrews 13:1–3 NLT

1 Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! 3 Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.

Hebrews 13:1-3 is a passage that briefly echoes the words of Christ from Matthew 25. We can also hear echoes of Isaiah 58. God through out scripture and through Christ today, is trying to teach us truly how to live, to be faithfully ready for the coming of the Son of Man.

Sheep

- Acted with hospitality to the least of these. They authentically loved their neighbor and in doing so they loved God.

- Without realizing they were doing it to God. Be kind, be graceful always.

- Come you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Goats

-Ignored the least of these. They failed to love their neighbor as they love themselves.

-They are condemned because of what they did not do. When they turned their backs on one of the least of these they were doing it to God.

-Away with you cursed ones, into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

The Least of These

Matthew 25:40 NLT

40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

Twice Jesus mentions the least of these. Twice he tells the people when you helped or didn’t help you did or didn’t do it to me.

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A, Volume 4 Pastoral Perspective

Jesus said, God is here, in the messiness and ambiguity of human life. God is here, particularly in your neighbor, the one who needs you. You want to see the face of God? Look into the face of one of the least of these, the vulnerable, the weak, the children.

This is where Matthew 22:37-40 are important. In it Jesus sums up all the law and the prophets by telling a religious leader loving God and loving you are neighbor are equally important. We cannot love God without loving our neighbor. What does this have to do with today’s passage? The least of these are our neighbors. To be ready for the separation of the sheep and goats we must see God in the least of these and love him with every thing we have.

What Must We Do?

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A, Volume 4 Pastoral Perspective

Matthew 25 makes me very uncomfortable when I think about it much. I cannot help everyone. I do not have either the money or the time. Besides, who can tell who is really needy and who simply wants a bottle of cheap wine? What can I do?

What I can do and am called to do is to remember what Jesus said: “When you did it to one of the least of these, my family, you did it to me”—not, please notice, just the certifiably hungry and truly deserving. The only criterion he set was “least of these,” which means those who are weak and vulnerable, the little ones, particularly the small ones, the children. So what you and I can do and are called to do is not to ignore and overlook, but to look into a human face and to see there the face of Jesus Christ, because that is what he said.

What does this mean for us today? We must act with the love and grace God extends to us. The sheep are rewarded for living the Gospel. The goats are cursed for rejecting it, and ultimately rejecting God.

Our scripture this morning challenges us to see God, to see Christ in the least of these and to love regardless.

Hebrews tells us in the last chapter to always show hospitality to strangers because some have been entertaining angels unaware.

We are entering into the advent season. The season we remember Christ birth. God with us. God became one of us and laid down his life as a perfect sacrifice for the whole world without exception. We are to love without exception this is the gospel of our LORD Jesus Christ.