Christ the King

Pastor Peg's Sermon on Matthew 25:31-46 
November 20, 2005

 

This morning we say a fond farewell to one who has guided us.  He’s not going away for good.  He’ll be back at the end of 2007.  But after today he hands on the baton to a new guide.  I’m speaking of course of Matthew, who’s Gospel has accompanied us most Sundays this church year.  Today ends his current tour of duty.  With Advent, Mark becomes our new guide. 

But that’s for Advent and today is Christ the King and we don’t want to miss Matthew’s parting words.  Now the word “king” brings many things to mind.  One of these days there will again be a King of England and there’s a King of Jordan and kings in other countries.  There’s a nearby basketball team named the Kings, and a hockey team down south.  But that doesn’t help much, for we would be amiss to liken Christ to any of these. 

The reign of Christ is like nothing we’ve ever known.  Matthew startles us with its urgency.  He paints a picture of how extraordinary it is.  In this picture Matthew speaks of separating people – some on the right hand and some on the left.  And neither the right nor the left know anything of what they have done to be put in such categories.  Both sides deny ever visiting Jesus or clothing him or welcoming him or feeding him. “We never saw you,” both sides exclaim. 

And this is what is so startling about it!  Christ reigns and we miss it most of the time – even when we’re doing the right things.  Those who fed and welcomed, visited and clothed those in need had no idea they had done anything good at all – let alone anything for Christ.  They were just doing what was natural – caring for those in need.  It’s as simple as that.  And this congregation knows this. 

We understand our responsibility to care for others and there is always more care to give.  And how grateful we are for those who organize us to do these things! 

But Matthew points out that the people Jesus said did these things didn’t even know they were doing them.  They didn’t do them, like we don’t do them, to get credit, or, to get saved.  We don’t need to get God to love us.  God already does.  The people at the right hand didn’t even know to keep score.  They couldn’t even make a list like we can. 

But the same was true for the people on the left side of Jesus!  Those who he said failed to do these things.  They didn’t keep score either and they missed out.  What are we to make of this? 

It can help to look at the story from a different angle – to look at it from the standpoint of the needy, the imprisoned, the hungry, the sick.  Matthew’s message is that these are never left out.  If we fail to care for them, or visit them, or welcome them, or feed them – they are still in the story, with Christ there by their side.  He remains with them in the midst of their destitution.  It is in the midst of their forsakenness that Christ reigns!

And this is a great mystery of the Gospel.  Christ is where people most need him to be.  And if we want to share in his life – we will find healthy and community-engaged ways to be there too.   Jesus wasn’t about co-dependency, but about healthy loving.

But in the end something else goes on here as well.  In its own crazy way the reign of Christ ends up as a baffling surprise.  The very nature of Christ’s reign is that even our neglect of the needy doesn’t end up separating us from Christ because in our failure to care we become those outsiders, those poor, those imprisoned in our own minds and hearts.  We become the ones starved for nourishment and without a home.  We become the strangers who need a welcome. 

And we are welcomed – by Christ the King who reigns among the wretched – even when they are us.  This is grace – that by Christ’s gentle rule of justice and mercy does not abandon us.  We cannot get away from grace because even in our moments of uncaring, Christ is present to knock on the door of our closed hearts and say, “Won’t you come and join me?” “Come, where true joy is found – in feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, visiting the prisoner, clothing the naked.  You don’t have to do so to get me to love you, but it is where joy and meaning are found.  It is more fun to be a part of what God is up to in the world.” 

And the paradox is that it is better to be where Christ is in the world, caring, but, when we care less, Christ still cares – even for us in our uncaring!  If we read the whole of the Gospel we see that grace goes with us even when we fail, for to fail is to find ourselves face to face with Christ who resides in just such dark places.  And so we have nothing to lose – except – as research says – some happiness.

The current issue of the Christian Century magazine reported on a study on happiness.  “Happiness,” it suggests, “as opposed to pleasure, is a life well lived, one that honors the important, not just the urgent.”  The study indicates that happiness increases with altruistic engagement.  Joy in life is at stake in how we live within our world. 

The youth among us know this and insisted in their planning meeting last summer that an essential part of what they want to be involved in here at Faith Lutheran is service oriented.  And on this day when St. Matthew hands off the baton to St. Mark, Matthew doesn’t leave without calling us to share in the joy of Christ’s reign. 

And we are fed for the journey by bread broken and wine poured, giving us a foretaste of the feast of Christ’s reign where garlands will be put on our necks and kisses on the foreheads.  Christ as King is really a jester king who bounces us on the knee and invites us into the joy of this reign.

Whether or not we do the good deeds Christ calls us to, he meets us in our generosity of spirit, or if need be, in our poverty of spirit.  Christ reigns as the jester king with rings on his pierced fingers and bells on his pierced toes hoping we will dance with him in the joy of such grace. 

And, like those at the right hand in the story, we will know Christ’s reign is come when we don’t even notice.  It will feel so right.  The sign is: there will be no more tears!  That’s all we have to look for in the world to find where we can help work for Christ’s reign.  We can look for where the tears are and know that is where we need to be too.  What a joy it is to be set free by Christ to participate with him in moving towards that day where there will be no more tears.  May we work for this kingdom and answer its call!        

Amen.

+Pastor Peg Schultz-Akerson, to the glory of God
Faith Lutheran Church, Chico, California