Expecting Surprises on Judgment Day
Sermon
Facing the Future with Hope
Cycle B Gospel Text Sermons for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany
A number of years ago when I lived in upstate New York I belonged to a Rotary Club. This service club, like the Lions and Kiwanis clubs, seeks to serve the community in a number of practical ways. As Christmas approached each year, one of our Rotary Club projects was to help the Salvation Army with their bell ringing. In my recollection it always seemed to be a cold, bitter, snowy day when I was given my two-hour assignment to ring the bell. I took my turn in front of our largest department store in town. I felt a little self-conscious at first ringing the bell but I knew it was for a good cause.
As I think back now on all those people hurrying by on their way to shop here and there, I cannot recall any specific classification of people who stopped by to drop something in the kettle. Some were old, others were young. Some looked prosperous, others did not. I was usually surprised when someone did give a donation. I never expected that sort of person to do it.
You could not help but feel that God was present in the lives of many of the strangers who passed by but you never knew in advance just when God had moved someone to be generous. All the strangers looked alike. They were just ordinary people full of surprises.
In Jesus' parable about judgment day, surprises abound too. The sheep and the goats are separated, the sheep on the right, the goats on the left; the former blessed, the latter accursed.
In this story the test for entering the kingdom of God is how individuals respond to the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner. The Son of Man says that he is present in each one of these people, but "the righteous" did not realize this fact. They asked in amazement never recognizing in any of these different encounters. He replies: "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" (Matthew 25:40).
Likewise, those who do not enter the kingdom of God did not recognize that the Son of Man was present in "the least of these."
We must keep in mind that this scripture passage is a parable. Jesus also spoke of the importance of faith and other aspects of discipleship. Nonetheless, identifying with the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner is exactly what Jesus did in his ministry. He not only taught compassion but he did something about it.
Surely, this parable is disturbing to those of us who do not like surprises. We would prefer to have everything spelled out in black and white -- what to believe, how to worship, what kind of church structure is best. In other words, not a few of us would like a set plan to guide our way. We like to know who is in and who is out.
It can be upsetting to us when we are forced to re-define our boundaries. Yet if nothing else, this parable persuades us that Jesus would extend our boundaries to include those who are hurting among us, the hungry, the friendless, all those who are in need of comfort and healing. Even as Jesus moves among "the least of these" he impels us to do the same.
In this scripture passage, Jesus is depicted as the "Son of Man" referring to the last days. He is "king" suggesting his association with King David and the promised Messiah. He is "Lord" -- not Caesar nor anyone else is lord. Finally, he is called "Judge," who will have the final say.
While keeping in mind this is a parable, we cannot escape the fact that this is the only detailed picture of the last judgment that Jesus gives us and it has nothing to do with rigid theology but simply the paramount criterion is how we act toward people in need.
During the late Middle Ages an unctuous monk by the name of Richard of Devizes warned innocent people who might be planning a visit to the city of London to beware of certain people:
Do not associate with the crowds of pimps; do not mingle with the throngs in the eating-houses; avoid the dice and gambling, the theatre and the tavern. You will meet with more braggarts there than in all France; the number of parasites is infinite. Actors, jesters, smooth-skinned lads, Moors, flatterers, pretty boys, effeminates, pederasts, singing and dancing girls, quacks, belly-dancers, sorceresses, extortionists, night-wanderers, magicians, mimes, beggars, buffoons; all this tribe fill all the houses.1
The more you think about this list the more you realize that many of these people were the very people Jesus was criticized for associating with in his ministry. He loved to be with the outcasts and to welcome them into the kingdom of God.
Francis of Assisi in his early twenties was a delicate and fastidious young man. He always had a horror of dirt, smells, and mutilation of any kind. He especially shrank from lepers when he passed them along the highway. In fact, when he did encounter a leper he turned aside his face, stopping his nostrils with his hand.
God, however, was beginning to work in his life and causing him to do many things that startled him. One day as he was returning to Assisi and came close to the leper hospital at San Salvatore, to his horror he saw a leper standing in his path. The old loathing choked him but this time something, or someone, moved him to jump off his horse. He gave money to the leper and then gently took the hand and kissed it, putting his lips to the rotting flesh.
At that moment Francis saw the suffering Jesus in this suffering man. He put his arms around the leper. Francis' fear was gone. He mounted his horse again and continued on to Assisi with joy in his heart.2
In our own generation Mother Teresa in her phenomenal mission work among "the poorest of the poor" in the slums of Calcutta, India, had a similar approach. She habitually used the haunting phrase "his distressing disguise" to describe Jesus' presence among the poor, neglected people she met.
Henri Nouwen comments on the first time he met Douglas Steere, the Quaker retreat leader and author who has helped so many people deepen the inner life of the spirit. E. Glenn Hinson in his biography of Steere describes the scene: "Nouwen had invited him in April 1975 to Yale to speak to a class on spirituality. When he arrived at the train station in New Haven just after the passengers had disembarked, he looked down the platform to see this slightly stooped elderly gentleman in a charcoal suit lugging two heavy suitcases -- not his own but those of another passenger who was having trouble carrying them."3
That was Douglas Steere. He could not only give a stimulating lecture but he knew most important of all what it was to put his faith into action wherever the occasion called for it. Those of us who have met him and have sat under his teaching that always stretched our minds also understood there was more to the man than his superb intellect. He was indeed a man who "walked the talk" and was constantly affirming and encouraging others.
Philip Yancey recalls one summer visiting a group of Wycliffe Bible Translators at their austere headquarters in the Arizona desert. They lived in mobile homes and their headquarters was a concrete-building with a metal roof.
However, Yancey was impressed by the personal dedication of these professional linguists who were preparing for a life of hardship in remote outposts in the world. They had a sense that serving God would make it worth their while, if not in this life then in the life to come.
While spending this time speaking to these highly trained but poorly paid Bible translators, Yancey would spend his early morning hours jogging along dirt roads in this desolate area. One morning he came upon a luxurious complex that included two Olympic swimming pools, aerobic workout rooms, lush gardens, even a baseball diamond and soccer fields. He learned that this imposing set of buildings belonged to a famous eating disorder clinic that caters to movie stars and athletes. Like the Wycliffe Bible Translators the staff was highly trained with a number of Ph.D.s and M.D.s but the clients who attended this clinic were charged $300 per day.
As Yancey jogged back to the humble mission base he was deeply conscious of the contrast between that and the spectacular eating disorder clinic. The one institution was preparing people to serve God and the other was preparing people to pamper their bodies and enjoy life without much thought of sacrifice. Yancey has interviewed many celebrities in his life and also unknown mission workers. The ones who seem to have the most satisfaction out of life are the latter who have caught something of the vision articulated in this parable. The world may value cure of the body more than cure of souls, but Yancey was convinced that the Wycliffe Bible Translators had something special that the other group did not have.4
The musical Godspell continues to inspire those who see it. We all have our favorite scenes in the musical. One of the most engaging scenes in my estimation is an episode in the Upper Room. Jesus takes a bucket of water, a cloth, and a mirror and he goes to each disciple. He washes away their painted clown faces. Then he holds up the mirror in front of their faces so that they can see themselves as they really are. Finally, he hugs each one.
It is not necessary for us to wear a false face, to pretend we are someone we are not. God loves us as we are. God accepts us with all our imperfections. Is not this teaching at the heart of the parable we are presently examining?
As usual, Eugene Peterson in The Message, expresses clearly and simply what Jesus means: "Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me -- you did it to me."5 Amen.
__________
1. Leonard Sweet, Out of the Question, Into the Mystery (Colorado Springs, Colorado: Waterback Press, a division of Random House, Inc., 2004), 133.
2. Elizabeth Goudge, My God and My All: The Life of Francis of Assisi (New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., 1959), 36.
3. E. Glenn Hinson, Love at the Heart of Things: A Biography of Douglas V. Steere (Nashville: The Upper Room Books, 1998), xii.
4. Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), 110-111.
5. Eugene Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs, Colorado: Nav Press, 2002), 1797.
As I think back now on all those people hurrying by on their way to shop here and there, I cannot recall any specific classification of people who stopped by to drop something in the kettle. Some were old, others were young. Some looked prosperous, others did not. I was usually surprised when someone did give a donation. I never expected that sort of person to do it.
You could not help but feel that God was present in the lives of many of the strangers who passed by but you never knew in advance just when God had moved someone to be generous. All the strangers looked alike. They were just ordinary people full of surprises.
In Jesus' parable about judgment day, surprises abound too. The sheep and the goats are separated, the sheep on the right, the goats on the left; the former blessed, the latter accursed.
In this story the test for entering the kingdom of God is how individuals respond to the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner. The Son of Man says that he is present in each one of these people, but "the righteous" did not realize this fact. They asked in amazement never recognizing in any of these different encounters. He replies: "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" (Matthew 25:40).
Likewise, those who do not enter the kingdom of God did not recognize that the Son of Man was present in "the least of these."
We must keep in mind that this scripture passage is a parable. Jesus also spoke of the importance of faith and other aspects of discipleship. Nonetheless, identifying with the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner is exactly what Jesus did in his ministry. He not only taught compassion but he did something about it.
Surely, this parable is disturbing to those of us who do not like surprises. We would prefer to have everything spelled out in black and white -- what to believe, how to worship, what kind of church structure is best. In other words, not a few of us would like a set plan to guide our way. We like to know who is in and who is out.
It can be upsetting to us when we are forced to re-define our boundaries. Yet if nothing else, this parable persuades us that Jesus would extend our boundaries to include those who are hurting among us, the hungry, the friendless, all those who are in need of comfort and healing. Even as Jesus moves among "the least of these" he impels us to do the same.
In this scripture passage, Jesus is depicted as the "Son of Man" referring to the last days. He is "king" suggesting his association with King David and the promised Messiah. He is "Lord" -- not Caesar nor anyone else is lord. Finally, he is called "Judge," who will have the final say.
While keeping in mind this is a parable, we cannot escape the fact that this is the only detailed picture of the last judgment that Jesus gives us and it has nothing to do with rigid theology but simply the paramount criterion is how we act toward people in need.
During the late Middle Ages an unctuous monk by the name of Richard of Devizes warned innocent people who might be planning a visit to the city of London to beware of certain people:
Do not associate with the crowds of pimps; do not mingle with the throngs in the eating-houses; avoid the dice and gambling, the theatre and the tavern. You will meet with more braggarts there than in all France; the number of parasites is infinite. Actors, jesters, smooth-skinned lads, Moors, flatterers, pretty boys, effeminates, pederasts, singing and dancing girls, quacks, belly-dancers, sorceresses, extortionists, night-wanderers, magicians, mimes, beggars, buffoons; all this tribe fill all the houses.1
The more you think about this list the more you realize that many of these people were the very people Jesus was criticized for associating with in his ministry. He loved to be with the outcasts and to welcome them into the kingdom of God.
Francis of Assisi in his early twenties was a delicate and fastidious young man. He always had a horror of dirt, smells, and mutilation of any kind. He especially shrank from lepers when he passed them along the highway. In fact, when he did encounter a leper he turned aside his face, stopping his nostrils with his hand.
God, however, was beginning to work in his life and causing him to do many things that startled him. One day as he was returning to Assisi and came close to the leper hospital at San Salvatore, to his horror he saw a leper standing in his path. The old loathing choked him but this time something, or someone, moved him to jump off his horse. He gave money to the leper and then gently took the hand and kissed it, putting his lips to the rotting flesh.
At that moment Francis saw the suffering Jesus in this suffering man. He put his arms around the leper. Francis' fear was gone. He mounted his horse again and continued on to Assisi with joy in his heart.2
In our own generation Mother Teresa in her phenomenal mission work among "the poorest of the poor" in the slums of Calcutta, India, had a similar approach. She habitually used the haunting phrase "his distressing disguise" to describe Jesus' presence among the poor, neglected people she met.
Henri Nouwen comments on the first time he met Douglas Steere, the Quaker retreat leader and author who has helped so many people deepen the inner life of the spirit. E. Glenn Hinson in his biography of Steere describes the scene: "Nouwen had invited him in April 1975 to Yale to speak to a class on spirituality. When he arrived at the train station in New Haven just after the passengers had disembarked, he looked down the platform to see this slightly stooped elderly gentleman in a charcoal suit lugging two heavy suitcases -- not his own but those of another passenger who was having trouble carrying them."3
That was Douglas Steere. He could not only give a stimulating lecture but he knew most important of all what it was to put his faith into action wherever the occasion called for it. Those of us who have met him and have sat under his teaching that always stretched our minds also understood there was more to the man than his superb intellect. He was indeed a man who "walked the talk" and was constantly affirming and encouraging others.
Philip Yancey recalls one summer visiting a group of Wycliffe Bible Translators at their austere headquarters in the Arizona desert. They lived in mobile homes and their headquarters was a concrete-building with a metal roof.
However, Yancey was impressed by the personal dedication of these professional linguists who were preparing for a life of hardship in remote outposts in the world. They had a sense that serving God would make it worth their while, if not in this life then in the life to come.
While spending this time speaking to these highly trained but poorly paid Bible translators, Yancey would spend his early morning hours jogging along dirt roads in this desolate area. One morning he came upon a luxurious complex that included two Olympic swimming pools, aerobic workout rooms, lush gardens, even a baseball diamond and soccer fields. He learned that this imposing set of buildings belonged to a famous eating disorder clinic that caters to movie stars and athletes. Like the Wycliffe Bible Translators the staff was highly trained with a number of Ph.D.s and M.D.s but the clients who attended this clinic were charged $300 per day.
As Yancey jogged back to the humble mission base he was deeply conscious of the contrast between that and the spectacular eating disorder clinic. The one institution was preparing people to serve God and the other was preparing people to pamper their bodies and enjoy life without much thought of sacrifice. Yancey has interviewed many celebrities in his life and also unknown mission workers. The ones who seem to have the most satisfaction out of life are the latter who have caught something of the vision articulated in this parable. The world may value cure of the body more than cure of souls, but Yancey was convinced that the Wycliffe Bible Translators had something special that the other group did not have.4
The musical Godspell continues to inspire those who see it. We all have our favorite scenes in the musical. One of the most engaging scenes in my estimation is an episode in the Upper Room. Jesus takes a bucket of water, a cloth, and a mirror and he goes to each disciple. He washes away their painted clown faces. Then he holds up the mirror in front of their faces so that they can see themselves as they really are. Finally, he hugs each one.
It is not necessary for us to wear a false face, to pretend we are someone we are not. God loves us as we are. God accepts us with all our imperfections. Is not this teaching at the heart of the parable we are presently examining?
As usual, Eugene Peterson in The Message, expresses clearly and simply what Jesus means: "Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me -- you did it to me."5 Amen.
__________
1. Leonard Sweet, Out of the Question, Into the Mystery (Colorado Springs, Colorado: Waterback Press, a division of Random House, Inc., 2004), 133.
2. Elizabeth Goudge, My God and My All: The Life of Francis of Assisi (New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., 1959), 36.
3. E. Glenn Hinson, Love at the Heart of Things: A Biography of Douglas V. Steere (Nashville: The Upper Room Books, 1998), xii.
4. Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), 110-111.
5. Eugene Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs, Colorado: Nav Press, 2002), 1797.
