You Sure Told Them - A Sermon for Reign of Christ / Christ the King Sunday November 26 2023
GOSPEL: Matthew 25:31-46
The holy gospel according to Matthew.
Glory to you, O Lord.
Jesus compares himself to a king who moves among his subjects to see how he is treated: what is done for the least of those who belong to his family is truly done for him.
[Jesus said to the disciples:] 31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then 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; 35for 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, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family you did it to me.’ 41Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ 45Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
Today is Reign of Christ Sunday,
traditionally Christ the King Sunday.
This is the last Sunday in the church calendar
as we begin Advent next week.
Today is a day set aside to recognize that Jesus is Lord,
that Christ reigns over and above all other authority.
We ought to recognize this every day.
We recognize it when we pray the Lord’s Prayer:
Your Kingdom Come! Your will be done!
Part of today’s task then is to try and understand
what the reign of Christ looks like,
and how Christ’ kingdom might come
in and among us.
When we think of Jesus’ life,
like any Rabbi,
Jesus knew the scriptures.
He was deeply entrenched in the Jewish religion,
Christ’s faith was known in sharing scripture:
in particular, the prophets.
The kingdom of God,
the Kingdom of Heaven
that Jesus spoke of and pointed to in our midst;
is the same kingdom the prophets spoke of.
Christ’s kingdom
sounds like Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
Perhaps you’ve heard this one before…
The preacher went to visit
one of the members of the congregation,
Mrs. Jones.
During the visit,
Mrs. Jones complained to the preacher
about her grown children
who no longer attend church.
She regularly lets them know
what’s wrong with them.
Mrs. Jones complained about all the people
she had to pass
when she was downtown the other day.
Everyone looking for a hand out.
She complained that her friend, Betsy,
just needs to get over it,
and she complained that the neighbour’s kids
are out of control.
But it wasn’t all complaints,
Mrs. Jones was thankful
that she has a strong faith
unlike others,
and that she was raised properly,
unlike others.
The preacher was at a loss for words
with Mrs. Jones.
He did a little too much smiling and nodding that day.
It was a familiar visit for this preacher,
it had happened before
with other Mrs. Jones’s.
The next Sunday,
the preacher came to the front of the sanctuary
to deliver the sermon.
The sermon was a little more hellfire and brimstone
than normal.
The preacher called out the hypocrisy of the Mrs. Jones’s,
how they are not caring for those in need,
nor welcoming outsiders,
let alone inviting them.
You pray for the poor on Sunday
and step over them on Wednesday.
You pray for peace on Sunday
and put down your loved ones on Tuesday.
You sing “Jesus Loves Me” on Sunday
and complain about the neighbours on Monday.
It was a powerful sermon.
The service ended,
and as Mrs. Jones left the sanctuary,
she shook the preacher’s hand and said
“You sure told THEM, pastor!”
We have that tendency - I have that tendency,
to hear a Word of conviction,
a Word of direction and call
for the church
for Christians,
for me
and think that it is God speaking
to everyone else but me.
‘Lord, when was it that we saw you
hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison,
and did not take care of you?’
God is talking to us.
God is talking to me.
God is talking to you.
Seems God has been talking to us for centuries.
This is the story of the prophets,
who call God’s people to return to the Lord,
who say;
Change your ways,
act justly,
care for the outsider,
alien,
orphan
and widow,
You sure told them, pastor!
We’ve been hearing some difficult texts
from Matthew’s Gospel,
texts that offer dire warnings
and the challenge to live our faith
in tangible ways.
‘Lord, when was it that we saw you
hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison,
and did not take care of you?’
You sure told them, pastor!
Jesus is not interested in shallow worship,
I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
says our Lord.
600 or so years pass between the prophets and Jesus,
and it seems
things hadn’t changed much.
Jesus picked up where the prophet Jeremiah left off.
Jesus came to the temple in Jerusalem,
and saw a religious system that
oppresses the poor,
a system of shallow worship,
so Jesus overturned the temple tables and declares
“My house shall be called a house of prayer;
but you are making it a den of robbers.”
It happened again 1500 years later
as Martin Luther saw the abuses
and shallow worship
best seen through the sale of indulgences.
God called that prophet to reform the church,
to turn us, again,
away from shallow worship
and to true, genuine worship and relationship
with our God and our neighbour.
I wonder about us,
as we seem to be living in our own
modern-day reformation:
Do we pray for unity on Sunday
and turn down the opportunities
that arise for unity on Thursday.
Do we pray for a clear sense of mission
and God’s work in the world on Sunday
but ignore the Kingdom of Heaven in our midst
on Wednesday?
Do we pray for the poor on Sunday
and step over them on Friday?
Do we shake hands and say
“peace be with you” on Sunday
only to talk poorly behind our neighbour’s backs
on Monday?
When we hear Jesus’ words today,
separating the sheep and the goats,
loving and serving the least of these,
We can’t just say “You sure told them, Jesus”
Jesus is talking to them,
and Jesus is talking to us.
We can hear the affirmation,
that when we love and serve others,
we love and serve Jesus.
We can also hear the challenge,
that when we pass by the other,
we pass by Jesus.
God is calling us into genuine,
honest,
true worship,
true religion,
to restorative justice,
to deep peace,
to shalom.
God is calling us to bless others
as we have first been blessed,
especially to bless the alien,
the outsider,
the poor,
the widow,
and the orphan,
the hungry,
the thirsty,
the naked,
the stranger,
the prisoner.
That’s what the kingdom of heaven looks like,
that’s what the reign of Christ looks like.
We enter into this self-giving life
following the self-giving King,
who has already done the heavy lifting.
It is Christ, the Word of God,
who seeks out and rescues the lost and scattered,
who feeds the sheep in good pasture,
who binds up the injured
and strengthens the weak.
Christ the King
is the Creator who saves,
the Creator who sets free.
Remember this grace.
Yes, indeed, we are called to live our faith,
to strive for justice and peace in tangible ways,
but that work does not save you.
Christ already has.
As we heard last week,
The giver of the gift
is also the giver of the ability to steward the gift.
Even so, we know that
at one time or another,
we have all passed by Jesus.
Hear the warning,
Cling to grace.
By your baptism into Christ,
your future is secure.
It is Jesus Christ,
who lives and who reigns,
whose Kingdom is real.
There is one Lord,
one faith,
one baptism.
There is one future:
God’s future:
a peaceful,
shalom,
restorative justice filled future.
This future,
God’s future,
is waiting for us,
but it is also, by God’s work,
now,
in and among us.
The giver of the gift sees fit
to work in and through people like us.
It is God’s Spirit,
by God’s Word,
in and through God’s people
that the reign of Christ is realized,
not just down the road,
but by God’s grace, today.
May we be a people of genuine worship,
who praise God with our voices
and with our hands.
May we hear the warning
and cling to God’s saving grace.
May God’s kingdom come
in and among us.
Thanks be to God. Amen!
