Both King and Common Man /
Based on Matthew 25:31-49 / Delivered November 26, 2017 to CCH
Hymns: Crown Him with Many
Crowns, Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us, They’ll Know We Are Christians
Matthew 25:31-46
25:31 "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.
25:32 All the nations will
be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,
25:33 and he will put the
sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.
25:34 Then 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;
25:35 for 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,
25:36 I was naked and you
gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you
visited me.'
25:37 Then 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?
25:38 And when was it that
we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?
25:39 And when was it that
we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?'
25:40 And 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.'
25:41 Then 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;
25:42 for I was hungry and
you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
25:43 I 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.'
25:44 Then 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?'
25:45 Then 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.'
25:46 And these will go
away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Happy Sunday to you. My name is Darci Strutt McQuiston and I am
one of the Lay Speakers of the United Methodist Church just up the hill from
here. It’s my honor to be with you. Today is known as “Christ the King” Sunday. It is the final Sunday of the church
year. Next Sunday we enter in to Advent
season and welcome Christ as a tiny babe.
I’m going to pull a few verses from the companion lectionary scripture
in Ezekiel and Ephesians, and read the Matthew lesson as our main focus.
Today’s lesson from
Matthew reminds us he is our Lord, one who has the right to judge us. He is also our shepherd, one who protects
us. He is also that human baby we will
begin to wait for next week, one who fully understands what it is to be a
common man.
The three ideas I hope to
bring out from our lessons today are:
The kind of King Jesus is
How to respond
Be faithful
The kind of King Jesus is
Paul spells out the power
of Christ as King in his letter to the Ephesians.
1:20 God put this power to
work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right
hand in the heavenly places,
1:21 far above all rule
and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not
only in this age but also in the age to come.
1:22 And he has put all
things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,
1:23 which is his body,
the fullness of him who fills all in all.
In our lesson from Matthew
he is both King and shepherd.
25:31 "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.
25:32 All the nations will
be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,
25:33 and he will put the
sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.
He is truly a servant
King, and that is God’s expectation for all who are in leadership. A righteous leader uses his power and might
to care for all of those under them.
Jesus is above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and he
reached out to heal and care for those who were searching for help. King of kings, and yet put on a towel to wash
the feet of his disciples. A righteous
king doesn’t judge his success by the size of his wealth, but by the health of
his kingdom.
How to respond
Jesus is clear about what
behavior is appropriate toward one another.
25:34 Then 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;
25:35 for 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,
25:36 I was naked and you
gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you
visited me.'
We are instructed to love
as Jesus loved. Based on the laws of
the Old Testament, the expectation is to share from your abundance.
Lev 23:22 “‘When you reap
the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather
the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner
residing among you. I am the LORD your God.’”
Gardeners know that part
of the harvest is based on their own labor, and part is based on the sun, wind,
and rain which is out of our hands. When
a year is particularly good it tends to be a gift. God is saying we are to share the gifts He
gives us with those in need.
This scripture reaches me
on both sides. I see it as instructing
me how to help others, and I also have memories of when I depended on others to
help me. When I became a single mother
of three small children I was in very rough shape financially. My brothers reached out to loan me
money. They weren’t wealthy either, but
they offered what they could and trusted me to repay them. My parents gave me a gift of money. Without their aide I most likely would have
lost our home. Most in my church family
embraced me in love. People helped by
picking up my kids after their school activities and brought them to youth
group for me while I was still at work.
They helped them feel loved and welcomed.
I also am a believer that
we are called to see each other as one body.
Would you cut off blood supply to your foot because you didn’t feel like
sharing? Of course not. Jesus said we are to think of our
interdependence with one another as tightly as the workings of our body. Cells don’t take extra just in case they decide
they want seconds later. They take what
they need from the flow of nutrition and the flow moves on to the next cell. However, there are times of serious infection
that we do remove a part of the body to protect the rest. I know any analogy breaks down eventually,
but it helps me to think in this way. We
are connected.
We look forward to being
reunited with God when we leave this earthly life, but God is within us now.
25:40 And 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.'
Jesus didn’t say, “it’s LIKE
you did it to me.” He said, “you did it
to me.”
Jesus promised he would
send the spirit. We understand that to
be God within us, but this scripture makes it a two-way street. We also have been made part of God.
Be faithful
I don’t know about you but
I have a hard time with scripture like this.
25:41 Then 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;
There are some scholars
that say the sheep represent those who confess faith in Jesus and the goats are
those who do not believe, but surely God isn’t basing our salvation on works
after Jesus won our souls by grace!
I can hear the spirit
within me saying, “Darci you are missing the point! Focus on the behavior that is desired, not on
the discipline.” I didn’t appreciate the
times my parents disciplined me as a child, but looking back can see that they
were teaching me through those uncomfortable times to be a better person. I am grateful to have that mentoring. The lesson for today is that type of mentoring.
I believe we are in
eternity now. We are making each moment
a part of heaven’s peace or part of hell’s torment by the choices we are
making. We find peace and joy in our
lives when we serve others. We find pain
when we hoard wealth over relationships. This parable serves as our warning and our
instruction on right behavior. We are to
remain faithful to God’s call to serve one another following Jesus example of
serving those around him.
Thanksgiving dinner was
just a few days ago. When I was handed a
serving plate from the kitchen I didn’t fill my plate and then let it sit in
front of me, but instead I picked what I thought I could eat and I passed it
on. God is asking the same of us. He gives us a serving plate and invites us to
take what we need, but then expects us to pass on the plate to others. It is poetic that some of those at our table filled
their plate with more than their body needed and as a result they felt
over-full and were miserable. That is a
lesson to remember.
Focus on the instruction
within this lesson today. Jesus, as king
and shepherd, loves us all. God’s gifts
are meant for his entire flock. Sometimes
the gifts we are given are meant to be a serving plate. We are blessed to be a channel for His love
to flow to others. I know I have work to
do here. I am grateful for God’s grace
and patience as I work to be faithful.
I’m closing with a ukulele
song based on today’s scripture.
https://soundcloud.com/darci-strutt/im-really-hungry
This is the way we’re
supposed to be
To love like Jesus loved
He’ll thank such folk and
welcome them
To his heavenly home above
I’m really hungry – Here have a snack
I’m thirsty too - There’s some water in my pack
I’m new around here – Please come on in
It’s a little cold – Here’s a sweater from the bin
A way to act that makes him
sad
Is to be unkind you see
I sure hope I don’t run into
them
If the person that’s hungry
is me
I’m really hungry – I’m too busy for you
I’m thirsty too – What’cha want me to do
I’m new around here – Ya, you don’t look like me
It’s a little cold – So move to the south sea
If Jesus was the one who
asked
For clothes, friends, drink,
or food
You’d sure jump to help him
out
Otherwise you’d sure feel
rude
I’m really hungry – Here have a snack
I’m thirsty too - There’s some water in my pack
I’m new around here – Please come on in
It’s a little cold – Here’s a sweater from the bin
