November 23, 2008
The Last Sunday after Pentecost (Year A)
Christ the King Sunday
Exodus 34:11-16, 20-24; Psalm 100; Ephesians 1:15-23;
Matthew 25:31-46
We are in the middle of the last Sunday of Pentecost, Christ the King Sunday. The crowns, the white Altar linens tell us that something special is celebrated today, and in the gospel lesson we get a glimpse of what the kingdom and our king are all about. We may be using our finest linens and decking our worship space with lovely royal banners in celebration, but our king describes a different sort of kingship, a different kind of royalty.
The members of the kingdom of our king are those who are poor or in prison or ill or hungry or naked and the people who clothe, feed, visit, and otherwise provide for them. And it seems that those who do not do these things or who are not these things are treated like the shepherd’s goats.
You see, when a shepherd had herds of both goats and sheep, they were allowed to graze together, to be together during the day, but at night they were separated, the sheep needing more warmth and care than the wily goats who were left outdoors to fend for themselves. And the sheep were more valuable so the shepherd’s investment in them was protected more rigorously than his investment in the goats.
Knowing that makes even more sense of this parable about who is part of the kingdom of our King – and it is not the usual wealthy, well fed, healthy, free, well-clothed people we associate with royalty then or now. It is, in fact, those who are left out in the cold to fend for themselves that our king claims as his own.
So Jesus is talking to us when he speaks this parable? Are we ones like the disciples who asked, “When did I see you hungry or naked or in prison?” And so on?
And the truth is some of us have done all of these things, feed, clothe, visited, provided for, but I can say for certainty that between us, all of us, we do these things. We, as a community of faith, people who follow, citizens of the kingdom, together, we do all these things Jesus speaks of. Together, as a flock of God’s choosing, we are ones who live into the kingdom imperative. As members of the community, as part of the flock, we do it all and it takes all of us to do God’s work.
While we can’t all be the ones who feed, we have to support those who do. And while we can’t all be the ones who visit in prison (or even go caroling each December – please note how to do that in the blue sheet) or all be visitors to the sick (thank God for the Pastoral Care team and LEM B’s), we can’t all do everything, but together we can do it all or support those who do. And I firmly believe that salvation or membership in God’s kingdom is not about what we as individuals do, but how we together are able to make the kingdom visible here on earth, here and now. We are accountable not only to God but to one another for living the gospel.
And that accountability, our pledge campaign leaders will tell you, has to do not only with actively being involved in some ministry (have you brought a pair of mittens yet? Or toiletries for the prisoners? Or served on the vestry?) They would tell you it’s not only active ministry but also contributing so that others can do their part. It’s both serving and giving in community. So all of us need to do what we are called to do in this community, give what we are called to give. And if we do, not only will our community here and those we serve apart from here, get a glimpse of the kingdom and the king we serve, but Jesus will recognize us as having done the work he has given us to do in the gospel passage today.
Our community is the means of each of us being able to fulfill this morning’s gospel message. No one of us could possibly do everything alone. So as you see the video* this morning, I hope you will think about your place in this community, this community, this
May these beautiful white linens and hangings remind us that the royalty of our kingdom is not decked out in such finery, until we by our actions bring them into God’s kingdom. It is by our willingness to be God’s hands and voice and heart that we bring the beautiful garments of royalty to bedeck the outcast and downtrodden. We have serious work to do together, but to do it is our joy. For when we work together, none of us will be like the goats, left out in the cold. Together we will be inside the fold, loved by God and warmed by the glow we can feel from each other.
Amen.
The Reverend Dr. Gale Davis Morris
Church of the Good Shepherd
*Presentation this morning by the Stewardship Committee