Jesus pushes us to once again think about why we do what we do as people of faith. If we help others out of obligation or charity, with a “this will get me into heaven” mentality, or anything else beyond relationship in recognition, in celebration of our connection to each other, then we have completely missed the Gospel message.
October 20, 2024
Love… It Might Just Be Crazy Enough to Change the World
“What if We Reach Out to the Ones Who Need Help?”
Matthew 25: 31-46
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
Matthew 25: 31-46
“When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father!
Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why: I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.’
“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me – you did it to me.’
“Then he will turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because: I was hungry and you gave me no meal, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was homeless and you gave me no bed, I was shivering and you gave me no clothes, Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’
“Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’ “He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me – you failed to do it to me.’
“Then those ‘goats’ will be herded to their eternal doom, but the ‘sheep’ to their eternal reward.”
What if We Reach Out to the Ones in Need? Matthew 25: 31-46
What if we reach out to the ones who need help? This should be an easy question for us to answer, not only because we are people of faith but because as Jesus’ followers, we are called to do so. But more than that, this should be an easy question for us to answer because we are people and what I understand from people way smarter to me is that the first sign of civilization thousands of years ago is when people started caring for others, tending to their needs, not leaving them behind because they were sick or injured. Yet even as I say that statement out loud, I know how naive it really sounds. After all, I only, we only need to look at what is happening around our world to see how truly difficult this question is for us to answer as people of faith, to answer as humanity.
Wars are happening all over our world right now because people refuse to see anything else but the labels placed on others, Aid is not going to people in need because it is being used as a bargaining tool. Across this nation, policies are being written to determine just exactly who is in need and how that need should be defined. Laws are being passed to punish rather than to help. And it all adds up to form a zero-sum game, to form systems set up to purposefully see that no one wins. Roadblocks and obstacles are being placed in people’s way while we constantly hear the false narrative that people can pull themselves up by their bootstraps if they wanted to, that I did it so why can’t they? Every single day, spreadsheet after spreadsheet is printed out with facts and figures used to support the false assumption that some people are just more deserving of our time and resources than others.
When in reality, all of that is true and none of that is true. What I mean by that is that it is not either/or. Two things can be true at the same time. One can have a job and still not be able to make ends meet because they work at a job which does not pay a livable wage. One can still be pulling themselves and their family up by their bootstraps and still need a little assistance because years ago, their neighborhoods were redlined, or the gentrification process is happening in their neighborhood and they are being pushed out. Or maybe it just comes down to the fact that there is a limited quantity of affordable housing and the definition of affordable varies depending on what agency one talks to about the issue. One can still do everything “right” and still wonder how they are going to pay for groceries for their family because we live in a world where even though the pundits are telling us the economy is good, folks are not seeing it or experiencing it all because companies continue to choose profits over people.
All of this and more can be true and still there is a need to be addressed. There is still help that needs to be extended. There is still assistance that needs to be shared. Because the sad reality of our world is that more often than not, we base the definition of “need” on unrealistic expectations and in doing so, we set up a system where no one thrives…well, no one except the top 1%.
Now before anyone comes at me as a bleeding heart liberal, or comments on Facebook or YouTube, let me say that yes, I do get it. I get why there are frameworks to help determine the need and how assistance will be divided out. And yes, I do know that there is a fine line between enabling and empowering. But that’s another sermon for another day.
For now, as we look at this familiar text from the Gospel of Matthew, I want us to focus on why we do what we do as people of faith. Why do we, as Midway Christian Church, do our monthly Free Community Dinner when I fully admit it is a lot of work? Why do we have a Blessing box at our church when there is no way to monitor who takes what? Why do we as a community of faith collect items for the Food Pantry if we don’t get a say in who receives the items? Why do we support organizations which work to help break the poverty cycle if we don’t get to take a picture of that work for our social media? Why do we do what we do as people of faith? Why do we do what we do as a community of faith when it comes to caring for the least of these?
Again, same as last week, not a rhetorical question…Why do we do what we do as people of faith when it comes to caring for the least of these?
All great answers to what I fully admit is a trick question. How can it be anything but a trick question? What I mean by this is that when Jesus shares this story, he shares it as a parable, as a story to get us thinking, to get us wondering, to get us talking…Because Jesus knew the disciples. Jesus knew the early church. Jesus knew how people thought. Jesus knew how the world worked. He knew how difficult it is for us as humanity and as much as we may not like to admit, how difficult it is for as people of faith to care for the least of these with no expectation of anything in return.
Jesus knew all that and still invited us to become his followers because he is pushing his followers, past, present and future, Jesus is pushing his followers to think about why we do what we do as people of faith. It is not about feeling good about ourselves when we do good deeds. It is not about letting the whole world know what kind of church we are, saying “Don’t you want to come join us because we do such great missions and ministries?” Rather it all comes down to doing what we do as people of faith because of who God is…a God who is steadfast, a God who is loving from generation to generation, a God who sees us, who has claimed and named us, who loves us more than we could ever imagine. We do what we do as people of faith because God loves us, and it has changed us. It has transformed us so much so that we can do nothing else but share it with each and everyone.
You see, the life-giving thing is that the Gospel message challenges us to see the world through the lens of God’s love. Jesus shares this vision of the coming of the Beloved Community, not to frighten us into shape, not to guilt us into good works but rather to help us see that God is in our midst, that God is in our world, working to bring healing and wholeness to all of God’s people. Jesus shares this vision of the coming of the Beloved Community ro remind us that the Gospel message turns our world upside down, that it doesn’t play by our standards, that it defies our logic and thankfully, isn’t something we can control or plan. Rather It breaks in. It breaks through. It surprises us. It amazes us. And more importantly it challenges us to become the people of love God created and calls us to be.
Jesus shares this vision of the Beloved Community to show that God’s love is just crazy enough to change the world. Amen.
See also: Theology Tuesday for October 20, 2024 – What if We Reach Out to the Ones in Need? Matthew 25: 31-46.
Additional sermons are available in the Sermon Library.
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