The Last Sunday after Pentecost

(Christ the King)

November 23, 2008

Year A

Matthew 25: 31-46

St. Francis, Norris

I remember, just before going to seminary, I had asked the priest how he kept coming up with those wonderful sermons he preached every week. Before he could answer, his wife blurted out: “oh, people just lay them in his lap; they give them to him”. The priest actually seemed a little irritated at her answer, as if she were saying that he had to do nothing to prepare a sermon.

This week, I discovered what it was she was talking about. At our Wednesday evening programs the Golden rulers and the men’s bible study provided me with the basis of this sermon today. It just so happened that the scripture reading for that particular saint, Elizabeth of Hungary, is the same gospel reading as today’s reading on Christ the King Sunday. In the men’s bible study we have been learning about the Ten Commandments from a new perspective. This past week was “Thou shalt not steal.”

At the service after the studies and after the golden rulers have been out saving the world, one inch at a time, I am attempting to preach a sort of mini-sermon that relates to the scripture and to what the kids did that night. So far it has worked well, I think.

This past week the kids went over to the food pantry and got a few canned goods organized and sorted in preparation for the onslaught of 180+ people this past Thursday. Our kids are now, not only aware of what the food bank does, but also of St. Francis particular ministry providing paper products and such things that are not given out to the needy through the second harvest. They are also items that cannot be purchased with food stamps.

It just so happened that all the kids were seated on the right hand side of the church this Wednesday. They enjoyed the fact that they were the sheep and some of the adults were the goats. So let me get into how all this relates to the Gospel today

It was common practice to let the goats and the sheep graze together, in those days. Of course there were also times that the sheep and goats needed to be separated. Goats need to be milked and sheep need to be shorn. We find the separation has already occurred in the scenario for today where Jesus has returned and is on his throne. ALL of the angels are present as are ALL of the nations. It is important to note that this is not an occurrence for just the Israelites…the chosen ones. All nations are present.

Jesus is telling the sheep that they have done well and taken care of him. They don’t get it and he explains the concept that if they do what is right to the less fortunate, it is the same as doing that same thing for Jesus himself.

Jesus then tells the goats that they have failed to care for him. They don’t get it either so he explains that when they failed to help the needy, they failed to help Jesus.

This all seems to be rather simplistic on the surface, but is it really so simple? Here is where the part about the men’s bible study comes into play. We were talking about stealing. The question asked was this: If you steal a mans clothes and leave him naked and cold is it any different from just seeing a man naked and cold and failing to do anything about it? Of course the assumption is that you can in fact do something about it. So is it any different? You are not the cause of his nakedness in the second scenario but the fact remains that the man is still naked and cold and you are capable of remedying the situation. Failure to do so might very well be the same as causing the problem in the eyes of some. Failure to help might even put you in the goat category in the eyes of the shepherd.

Are we like these people in the Gospel that we don’t get it? Whether we are on the sheep side or the goat side; are we not capable of understanding? We know not to steal the mans clothes I think, but that will not be enough to move us from goats to sheep. To not help when we realize he is cold and naked will put us right there with those same goats that actually stole the clothes.

We live in a time that we are quick to explain that something isn’t our fault. Therefore we shouldn’t be held accountable for the problem. We live in a time that businesses and governments are constantly demanding accountability. We are about to make a change in the Leadership of our government in January. When it happens you will hear a great deal of debate as to whether George bush or Barrack Obama should be held accountable for the financial mess that has been made. It doesn’t matter. The man is naked and cold. He needs to clothed and warmed. And the goats and the sheep, neither one understand what is happening around them.

There was a priest doing a sermon for children one Sunday and he was trying to emphasize the values of saving. He was using an analogy of a squirrel burying acorns for the winter. He had asked the children what animal was grey and furry and had a fuzzy tail and ran around in the trees. A little boy raised his hand saying, I know, I know. The priest asked him, what is it? The little boy said, Well, It sounds a lot like a squirrel but I know the answer is Jesus. The answer is always Jesus.

The Golden rulers go out into the world with the intent of saving it. I asked them who it was that they were helping when they went to the food bank this week. I just knew the answer would be Jesus. Every question I ask them, the answer is Jesus. This time though, none of them had an immediate answer. No, the poor people. No, the hungry people. No, people without a job. Nothing.

I had to tell them, Jesus. They were doing to the least of these. The point is that they were NOT doing this for Jesus. They were doing it for those in need. When you think about it Jesus doesn’t’ Need us to do anything for him. What could we possibly do for Jesus needs? Yes, he wants us to be in worship and to remember him in the breaking of the bread but there is nothing that Jesus needs from any mortal for his betterment.

Jesus wants us to do for others in need. That’s what the Golden rulers do every week. It isn’t their fault that these people are in need. They didn’t steal their clothes. They only see that they are cold. They only see that they need clothes. They don’t turn away. They act. They bring food. They help straighten things up and clean. They lift spirits.

They are the sheep. They will ask, when did I do these things Lord? And they will be told, when you did it to the least of these.

Big cathedrals, golden ornamentations and yes, fancy stained glass windows are given to the glory of God and surely are not bad things. I think the house of God should have the best. But that kind of honor is not what moves you from the goats to the sheep. It is the giving to those in need that will move you from the left hand to the right hand. You may not be able to have a permanent vision of that kind of gift like we do with our gifts of the outward and visible ornaments of the church. The outward and visible images of helping the least of these are stored in the kingdom of heaven. When we get to that place we will be able to see the true beauty of our lives what we have done.