Wesley Chapel Episcopal Church, Wesley Chapel, FL
Preacher: The Rev. Adrienne R. Hymes
Proper 29/Year A ▪ Christ the King Sunday ▪ November 22, 2020
Matthew 25:31-46
Perhaps you have noticed the shift in the messaging of the gospel passages of the last few weeks. Jesus’ parables have emphasized the necessity for watchfulness and readiness for the final things—the eschaton—the end of this world set in motion by the second coming of Jesus Christ, who is the final judge of humankind, and through whom God’s kingdom is coming (present tense). As God’s creatures who live in this time between Jesus’ Ascension and Parousia (second coming) we live with the tension of the building up of God’s kingdom on earth “now” and the “not yet” fully-realized kingdom of God.
A simplistic interpretation of our gospel passage in Matthew 25 equates to a directive for the righteous to address the human needs of the most vulnerable no matter who they are—or appear to be—and receive the reward of eternal life with God in the Kingdom of Heaven. This simplistic interpretation risks the message that good works alone will ensure that one receives inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let us be reminded that there is nothing that any human being can do to earn or buy God’s freely-given gift of grace for those who believe in Jesus Christ. One’s good works are not currency; they are the fruit of one’s faith in Christ.
We find Jesus speaking with his disciples about the criteria for the final judgment. Those who responded to the basic human needs of Jesus “the least of these” in Jesus’ family by providing food, shelter, clothing, hospitality and care, would be judged as righteous, and those who did not respond would be judged as accursed and punished. The “least of these” refers to the missionaries who had chosen lives that depended on the kindness and mercy of strangers.
Notice that the righteous and the accursed asked similar, not identical, questions. On the one hand, Jesus said that the righteous will ask the Lord, when was it that they saw him hungry and gave food; saw him thirsty and gave drink; saw him as a stranger and gave welcome; saw him naked and gave clothing; saw him sick or in prison and gave him visitation. And, the king will assure them that all of those good works done for the needy and the vulnerable in his family were indeed done to him. Notice the emphasis on the righteous group’s response to human needs that they could see. Even so, they were unaware, and seemed surprised that they had done the good works for the king.
Perhaps the righteous people did not realize that they were serving the king through their good works because their loving responses to the witnessed human suffering had become indistinguishable from the “good” that they did and the “good” that they were. Doing “good” in service to the needy, formed “good” people who embodied the Son of Man who came to serve, not to be served, and who is, by his divine nature, the highest “good.”
On the other hand, the accursed, also had opportunities to feed, quench thirst, welcome, clothe and visit the sick and imprisoned, but had not responded to the human needs that they had encountered. Like their counterparts, they were unaware that their inaction had not only failed the king’s needy family members, but the king himself. Both groups, surprised by his judgment of reward or punishment, asked the king, “When was it that we saw you…” and either helped you or denied you help?
This inability to see the king in the faces of the needy is important, and remains a stumbling block for us today. Had the people in either group actually seen the king’s likeness, would their behaviors have changed in any way? We don’t know. This scripture might disturb faithful people who may, like the righteous and the accursed, be surprised by Christ’s final judgment of them when he returns.
Before this pandemic, the Church functioned to address the always-present, visible and immediate needs necessary for the physical body to stay alive—food, water, shelter and clothes. Now as the pandemic rages on, with its sickness, death, compound traumas and compound griefs, the Church is challenged to reclaim her unique purpose and identity in order to address the ever-present, invisible human condition of suffering in order for wounded souls to have any hope of healing.
The church’s mission is to restore all people to unity with God and with each other in Christ. We do a great disservice to the mission of the Church when we neglect to explicitly state that to our own people and to the spaces outside of the church walls. As such, the church uniquely exists to confront spiritual unrest and to restore wholeness and health by feeding starving souls with the bread of life that is Jesus Christ; by quenching the thirst of the spiritually dry with the living water of Jesus Christ; by companioning the grieving, the fearful and the anxious as the body of Christ really present in this world; and by clothing those who despair with the hope of the gospel.
For now, we have been given time to develop our spiritual sight which makes possible our ability to see with our hearts and not with our eyes. We have time to choose to seek the face of Christ, in the face of every member of our human family. And, while we have time, we must resist becoming complacent, for we know that the time that we have been given is limited, and it will come to an end.
Just as there are medical and emergency first responders, fighting on the frontlines of the pandemic which threatens the health and life of the physical body, we, the Church, must urgently serve as spiritual first responders—fighting on the frontlines with the armor of Christ’s light and Christ’s hope; while fighting alongside those whose spirits have been broken by sickness; exhausted by healing; wounded by loss and grief; and who have neither help nor hope of recovery in the midst of financial devastation.
Last week, I attended a training for mental health first aid responders. As you may imagine, the awareness of mental health needs has increased dramatically because the mental health needs have increased, especially during this pandemic time. I was reminded of the inextricable entanglement of the human body, mind and soul, and that neglect of the soul’s needs inevitably impacts the whole human person and the wholeness of that person. There is no shortage of opportunities for God’s people to be mindful of, and care to for, the human family. Know that compassionate care for those who suffer in mind, body and spirit, is kingdom-building work.
On this Christ the King Sunday, while these earthly kingdoms are passing away, let us be clear about the heavenly king whom we claim to follow and serve. Let us perform good works with the frequency and ease that makes the “good” that we do and the “good” that we are becoming indistinguishable. Let us not neglect to care for the needy and vulnerable for in doing that will be in the presence of Christ (Heb 13:2). And standing firm in our faith, may we live in the hope that in the final judgment, Christ will invite us to claim our inheritance of God’s kingdom come.
May it be so. Amen.
