Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46
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.”
SERMON
The last of three strange parables in this chapter in Matthew – Jesus gives a parable on what it will be like when the Son of Man comes in all his glory. All nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them, one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Many translations say he will separate people, one from another – but that word is just a pronoun. Them. And the pronoun describes the nations, societies, ethnic groups. Not individuals.
Does this make a difference in the way we understand nations? Or the way we hear this parable?
Not only is this parable a call to serve those in need, but it’s a challenge for our societies to order themselves in ways that care for the poor and the sick, and the hungry. So how does Jesus judge or evaluate nations? What criteria does he use? When we evaluate nations, we tend to do so on the basis of wealth and power — Gross Domestic Product, standard of living, strength of the economy, strength of the military. But this is not the criterion Jesus uses to judge the nations from where he sits. Jesus does not even judge the nations on their faith – because belief and trust in God is an individual gift of the Spirit. Rather – Jesus judges nations on how well they care for four kinds of people:
The Poor. I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink . . . I was naked and you gave me clothing.
The Sick. I was sick and you took care of me.
The Immigrant. I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
The Prisoner. I was in prison and you visited me.
To be sure, Jesus is speaking to the nations, but this does not negate any personal responsibility. Nor should our care for these kinds of people be interpreted as how we earn our way to the kingdom. Because another close reading is required. When the king calls the sheep blessed, he tells them that they are inheriting the kingdom – prepared for them from the foundations of the earth. It’s not a prize, it’s not earned, they don’t win, they don’t even know what they’re doing or how blessed they are – but the king knows them and calls them blessed and sons and daughters.
That’s the surprise catch of this parable. They don’t even know what they’ve done, but they’ve been serving the king this whole time. They are already living in the reign of Christ, God’s kingdom, with their actions they have brought it into real time, and Christ is present. “…just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
“inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt 25:34). God’s blessing isn’t a reward for their actions; rather, the blessing precedes their actions. Indeed, the blessing makes their actions possible. The kingdom has already been prepared, our inheritance is secure in our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection. So what do we do in the mean time?
Keep awake certainly – look for the coming of the Son of Man – but in the meantime, there is much to be done. Because the kingdom has not yet arrived in its fullness, there is still injustice, pain, and suffering. And yet, Christ is among us daily! The king of all creation reveals his daily, mysterious presence in the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the impoverished, the sick, and the prisoner. Jesus is everywhere!
As Matthew tells it, this is Jesus’ final teaching before the passion. These are the words he wants ringing in our ears as he goes to the cross. Hebrew prophets repeatedly emphasize that concrete acts of love and justice are what matters most in the end. The prophet Micah, for example, declares that God has no interest in “burnt offerings” or “rivers of oil,” but rather requires that we “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:6-8).
And yet, Jesus goes to his passion, to his death, cast out as a criminal and nearly naked. The son of God comes into Jerusalem not as a king parading in glory but with the crowds looking on as he rides a donkey. And asks forgiveness for those who would abuse and kill him. This king comes to save not to condemn.
After all, salvation is always — in every single case — the forgiving, loving rescue of creatures who have fallen short; redemption is not a reward for generosity, but rather a graceful gift that makes such generosity possible.
Because on my best day, I’m still a goat in sheep clothing. But the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ – is that we are not sheep or goats, but God’s children. Christ has seen us in our hunger, thirst, nakedness, poverty, and imprisonment, and ministered to us. We inherit the kingdom; we are the sheep of God’s hand. Not by our own weak faith, or our own acts of charity – but through Christ the King’s faithfulness and forgiveness.
Amen.
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