Facing Christ
Sermon
The Home Stretch
Matthew's Vision Of Servanthood In The End-Time
Pilgrimage To A Bedside
First it was a seizure, then the tests, and then the deathblow diagnosis: inoperable brain tumor.
For the next year Jeanette, wife and mother of three young children, would show those around her how to live, as they watched her die.
When the tumor began its final rampage, she became bedridden. Her family set up a tiny bedroom for her next to the dining room of their old farm house. From there, she could hear the children practice piano on the old upright, or watch the family buzzing around the kitchen, or hear the children playing outside.
They were engaged in that farewell dance created by terminal illness: holding one another close, then flinging themselves apart, but never completely losing hold of each other's hands. Back and forth, in and out, life danced on while the clock ticked mercilessly forward. Jeanette cherished every minute.
Marion was one of Jeanette's many friends. It was hard for Marion to visit Jeanette, but not because of the illness. It was hard to visit Jeanette because, in spite of her illness, Jeanette was always doing the visiting. She'd ask about Marion's own three children, and how things were going at church and at work, and didn't Marion look a bit tired today? Like Jesus on the cross, taking care of his mother and even the thief hanging next to him, Jeanette cared for those around her.
Marion knew Jeanette appreciated their visits. But every time Marion left, she felt like she was the one who had been visited, not the other way around.
Jeanette became trapped in a body slowly shutting down, as the tumor trespassed into more and more of her brain. As if nailed down, her limbs became immobile. She nevertheless continued her spirit--filled way of living, graciously touching everyone around her with her faith and her gentleness. Slowly she commended into God's hands all that she was and all that she had.
So inspired by Jeanette's faith, Marion continued to feel like she'd been visited every time she came to see Jeanette.
Eventually silence replaced conversation. Jeanette would stir uncomfortably, and all Marion could do was to touch Jeanette's parched lips with a pink sponge dipped in water. Then Jeanette's eyes would thank her - deeply, sincerely, more profoundly than spoken words.
She continued to touch the depths of Marion's own soul.
Jeanette was teaching those around her how to live, as they watched her die: cherishing every moment; caring deeply about those around her; commending all of life to God; drinking thankfully of every drop of life.
Pilgrimages Of Reverse Mission
Jeanette's family chose Matthew 25:34ff to be read at her funeral. "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 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, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me ... Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."
As Marion heard those words, she knew she had experienced them with Jeanette. A "reverse mission" had happened when she visited Jeanette; she had been visited as well. She and Jeanette had been to the cross together and had both been visited by Christ there. No wonder she had always left Jeanette feeling somehow touched by grace.
There's an organization called "Ministry of Money," which conducts trips they call "Pilgrimages of Reverse Mission." These are trips which help North American Christians understand the ministry they can do with their money - their disproportionately large percentage of global wealth. Ministry of Money sends people to places like Honduras, Haiti, and Gaza.
North Americans go on these trips from their privilege of wealth, expecting to be the body of Christ to people in need. But the reverse also happens: they encounter Christ through the people in need. These trips become, indeed, "pilgrimages of reverse mission."
For Marion, visiting Jeanette had been a vivid pilgrimage of reverse mission as she encountered Christ in Jeanette's suffering. For participants in "Pilgrimages of Reverse Mission" sponsored by Ministry of Money, people living in abundance encounter Christ among the poorest of the world. In both cases, the truth of Jesus' promise becomes enfleshed.
Marion began to see things - and people - differently after Jeanette's death. She began to look for Christ as she went about her daily activities, looking for opportunities to meet Christ by serving people around her. The distressed and needy are all around us. She took delight in allowing a hassled and hurried mother to go ahead of her in the grocery line. She found numerous occasions to send encouraging e--mails to co--workers. Rarely was there a day that didn't present some opportunity, now that her heart was looking for them.
Whether across the dinner table, across the street, or even across the globe, life is a pilgrimage of reverse mission. As Mother Teresa once said, "We can never do great things on this earth but we can do small things with great love."
"I got so much more than I gave." People often say that after a mission trip or after working on a Habitat for Humanity home. It's what one man said about his twenty years of volunteering at the nursing home and how one teenager felt about working in a special education classroom. When we reach out, we receive so much; we encounter Christ!
Facing Christ
Matthew 25 is devoted to three stories about the coming of the Son of Man for final judgment. This lesson, the third of these three, is about meeting Christ in suffering. It offers a surprising twist: while we wait for Christ's return, in a very real way Christ is already here - as the distressed and needy. Facing Christ does not just happen at the last judgment; it happens every day.
In surprising ways, both Jeanette and Marion became the face of Christ for each other. Jesus identifies with those who go out in mission. "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me" (Matthew 10:40). And in our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus identifies with the "least" in society. "... 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). Christ works at both ends, bringing us together and blessing us in relationship to one another. We are part of a never--ending, ever--widening circle of grace.
But at the end of Matthew 25, Jesus is explicitly concerned about those who need help. Some of them may not be appealing or even receptive, and yet Jesus encourages us to acts of charity to the poor and lowly by linking himself to them. In God's abundant wisdom, facing Christ means really facing, really encountering each other.
This is good news for people hungering for God: seek God out through acts of mercy and justice, and you will meet Christ. If you want to find hope, build relationships with those who need help. Look around you, and you will begin to see Christ in the distressed and needy.
This is also good news for those suffering: God chooses you to wear the face and bear the grace of Christ to the world. When you are suffering, God has not abandoned you in your need. You are a special vessel of God's grace, even as God calls the world to your aid.
A couple years after Jeanette's death, Marion took a three--week work trip to an orphanage in Guatemala. She received a foreboding e--mail from the orphanage the night before she left: they were running out of food, they had few medical supplies left, and more children were arriving the same day as Marion and her co--workers. Still she didn't hesitate to go. "I know my heart is going to break, over and over again, when I get there," she said. "But I also know I will meet Christ in those little children, and that gives me hope."
Life is a pilgrimage of reverse mission, at home and across the globe. And always full of life--changing hope.
First it was a seizure, then the tests, and then the deathblow diagnosis: inoperable brain tumor.
For the next year Jeanette, wife and mother of three young children, would show those around her how to live, as they watched her die.
When the tumor began its final rampage, she became bedridden. Her family set up a tiny bedroom for her next to the dining room of their old farm house. From there, she could hear the children practice piano on the old upright, or watch the family buzzing around the kitchen, or hear the children playing outside.
They were engaged in that farewell dance created by terminal illness: holding one another close, then flinging themselves apart, but never completely losing hold of each other's hands. Back and forth, in and out, life danced on while the clock ticked mercilessly forward. Jeanette cherished every minute.
Marion was one of Jeanette's many friends. It was hard for Marion to visit Jeanette, but not because of the illness. It was hard to visit Jeanette because, in spite of her illness, Jeanette was always doing the visiting. She'd ask about Marion's own three children, and how things were going at church and at work, and didn't Marion look a bit tired today? Like Jesus on the cross, taking care of his mother and even the thief hanging next to him, Jeanette cared for those around her.
Marion knew Jeanette appreciated their visits. But every time Marion left, she felt like she was the one who had been visited, not the other way around.
Jeanette became trapped in a body slowly shutting down, as the tumor trespassed into more and more of her brain. As if nailed down, her limbs became immobile. She nevertheless continued her spirit--filled way of living, graciously touching everyone around her with her faith and her gentleness. Slowly she commended into God's hands all that she was and all that she had.
So inspired by Jeanette's faith, Marion continued to feel like she'd been visited every time she came to see Jeanette.
Eventually silence replaced conversation. Jeanette would stir uncomfortably, and all Marion could do was to touch Jeanette's parched lips with a pink sponge dipped in water. Then Jeanette's eyes would thank her - deeply, sincerely, more profoundly than spoken words.
She continued to touch the depths of Marion's own soul.
Jeanette was teaching those around her how to live, as they watched her die: cherishing every moment; caring deeply about those around her; commending all of life to God; drinking thankfully of every drop of life.
Pilgrimages Of Reverse Mission
Jeanette's family chose Matthew 25:34ff to be read at her funeral. "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 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, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me ... Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."
As Marion heard those words, she knew she had experienced them with Jeanette. A "reverse mission" had happened when she visited Jeanette; she had been visited as well. She and Jeanette had been to the cross together and had both been visited by Christ there. No wonder she had always left Jeanette feeling somehow touched by grace.
There's an organization called "Ministry of Money," which conducts trips they call "Pilgrimages of Reverse Mission." These are trips which help North American Christians understand the ministry they can do with their money - their disproportionately large percentage of global wealth. Ministry of Money sends people to places like Honduras, Haiti, and Gaza.
North Americans go on these trips from their privilege of wealth, expecting to be the body of Christ to people in need. But the reverse also happens: they encounter Christ through the people in need. These trips become, indeed, "pilgrimages of reverse mission."
For Marion, visiting Jeanette had been a vivid pilgrimage of reverse mission as she encountered Christ in Jeanette's suffering. For participants in "Pilgrimages of Reverse Mission" sponsored by Ministry of Money, people living in abundance encounter Christ among the poorest of the world. In both cases, the truth of Jesus' promise becomes enfleshed.
Marion began to see things - and people - differently after Jeanette's death. She began to look for Christ as she went about her daily activities, looking for opportunities to meet Christ by serving people around her. The distressed and needy are all around us. She took delight in allowing a hassled and hurried mother to go ahead of her in the grocery line. She found numerous occasions to send encouraging e--mails to co--workers. Rarely was there a day that didn't present some opportunity, now that her heart was looking for them.
Whether across the dinner table, across the street, or even across the globe, life is a pilgrimage of reverse mission. As Mother Teresa once said, "We can never do great things on this earth but we can do small things with great love."
"I got so much more than I gave." People often say that after a mission trip or after working on a Habitat for Humanity home. It's what one man said about his twenty years of volunteering at the nursing home and how one teenager felt about working in a special education classroom. When we reach out, we receive so much; we encounter Christ!
Facing Christ
Matthew 25 is devoted to three stories about the coming of the Son of Man for final judgment. This lesson, the third of these three, is about meeting Christ in suffering. It offers a surprising twist: while we wait for Christ's return, in a very real way Christ is already here - as the distressed and needy. Facing Christ does not just happen at the last judgment; it happens every day.
In surprising ways, both Jeanette and Marion became the face of Christ for each other. Jesus identifies with those who go out in mission. "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me" (Matthew 10:40). And in our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus identifies with the "least" in society. "... 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). Christ works at both ends, bringing us together and blessing us in relationship to one another. We are part of a never--ending, ever--widening circle of grace.
But at the end of Matthew 25, Jesus is explicitly concerned about those who need help. Some of them may not be appealing or even receptive, and yet Jesus encourages us to acts of charity to the poor and lowly by linking himself to them. In God's abundant wisdom, facing Christ means really facing, really encountering each other.
This is good news for people hungering for God: seek God out through acts of mercy and justice, and you will meet Christ. If you want to find hope, build relationships with those who need help. Look around you, and you will begin to see Christ in the distressed and needy.
This is also good news for those suffering: God chooses you to wear the face and bear the grace of Christ to the world. When you are suffering, God has not abandoned you in your need. You are a special vessel of God's grace, even as God calls the world to your aid.
A couple years after Jeanette's death, Marion took a three--week work trip to an orphanage in Guatemala. She received a foreboding e--mail from the orphanage the night before she left: they were running out of food, they had few medical supplies left, and more children were arriving the same day as Marion and her co--workers. Still she didn't hesitate to go. "I know my heart is going to break, over and over again, when I get there," she said. "But I also know I will meet Christ in those little children, and that gives me hope."
Life is a pilgrimage of reverse mission, at home and across the globe. And always full of life--changing hope.
