A SERMON FOR CHRIST THE KING SUNDAY

YOU DON’T LOOK LIKE A KING

MATTHEW 25: 31–46

I. WELLNESS EXAM

A. I appreciate the invitation to preach. I was almost late. I’’s a little different in retirement. Apparently, last night I set my calculator for 7 dollars and 15 cents. The lesson in Matthew for today is like a wellness visit to the doctor. That’s not one of my favorite things to do. You have to drive there and find a place to park. Then they make you fill out redundant forms. Then you go back into that room and they give you one of those robes that does not close in the back. The doctor always tells me that I am overweight and that my LDL is not good and that I need to get more exercise. And I pay her for all of these brilliant deductions. It’s all true, but it’s hard to hear. I think about the late great Rodney Dangerfield who said, “My doctor told me that I was a sick man. I told him I wanted a second opinion. He said, OK you’re ugly too.

B. This parables by Jesus, the last one he tells in Matthew, is like a spiritual wellness visit. It’s all true, but it’s hard to hear. But it is an important snapshot of how we are doing as disciples of Jesus. He is telling us that there are bad consequences that can make you the goat, for decisions we make to NOT act. None of us wants to be counted among the goats. And here Jesus is telling us that living self-centered lives is not spiritually healthy.

C. This Sunday before Advent is called Christ the King Sunday. In 1925, Pope Pious declared it as such. He felt that the world needed to be reminded of the true ultimate authority in the world. Aren’t you just fascinated with church history? Me neither. It’s just that there were too many people emerging in the world who wanted to be treated as kings, people like Stalin and Mussolini and Hitler. The Pope wanted to help us redefine what it really meant to be a king. It should not mean that everyone else serves one man, it means that one man stands as a model of being the kind of king in which everyone serves everyone else. And so, we look at Matthew 25.

II. JESUS VS. IDOLS

A. Here comes Jesus with an entirely new description of KING. In a sense, earthy kings are all about themselves. They demand that the people worship and serve him. Jesus asks his subjects to worship him by serving others. To be Christ-centered is to be DE-centered. It is to turn outward to those whose need is greatest. St. Augustine had a great simple definition of sin. He said sin is to be turned inward on oneself. Jesus wants to save us from obsessing about ourselves. The way we worship Jesus is to seek out those who need help and provide that help. These are our marching orders as disciples.

B. Now I think that Jesus also loves when we gather together to worship God the Father through him. But there is no distinction between worship and service to the least of these members of the family of Jesus. The Mission Committee is equal to the Worship Committee. In Hebrew, worship and service are the same word. A friend went to a Quaker meeting once. They sat in silence for along time. He whispered to his Quaker friend, “When does the service start?” And he answered, “As soon as the meeting is over.”

C. Sometimes we Christians start to lose our edge. Our zeal starts to wane. Our love for others cools and becomes just nice words. We start to get entangled with all kinds of idols like money or status or security or intellect and we sort of drift away from the radical nature of our calling. Jesus what does it mean to be a disciple of yours? Feed the hungry. Visit the lonely. Clothe the naked, Care for the sick. Matthew becomes a rallying cry for us to leave behind the biggest idol of all time SELF! Jesus not only teaches us what it means to follow him. He demonstrates it. The meaning of discipleship is COMPASSION. Elaine Pagels wrote that Jesus is calling us to a radical new social system where every person is given value and dignity. Serving those in need is the most significant mission we have. One of his aides went to the Pope and said, “Jesus has returned. What should we do?” And the Pope said, “Look busy!”

III. SEARCHING FOR JESUS

A. But this passage is about so much more than looking busy. It’s not just a ‘let’s do missions’ admonition. Christianity is not just a do-good deeds religion. There is something more in this passage. At the beginning of the parable Jesus seems to be acting like the good shepherd. Sheep over here, goats over there. But soon enough he is the KING enthroned in glory, Christ the King. But in this world, Jesus was (is?) a different kind of king. He was born in a stable. His friends were outcasts. His throne was a cross and his crown was of thorns. I think this passage is as much about us as it is about the least of these. For what we find, the kind of king we discover in the hungry and the homeless and the oppressed is Jesus. Wow! You don’t look like a king.

B. I was on my way home in suburban Camp Hill and I had to stop at the drug store. I saw an elderly black man walking back and forth as if he was lost. I asked if I could help him. He said he did not know where the bus stop was. I said get in. I can give you a ride. He said, “I can’t put you out like that. I live over in Allison Hill in Harrisburg. That is a dangerous neighborhood. But I insisted.” Another time my wife and I were in Harrisburg at our favorite sandwich shop. I ordered my sandwich. Then she ordered TWO sandwiches. I never knew her to be that hungry. But they were not both for her. She had noticed a man bagging on the sidewalk. She took the other sandwich and gave it to the man that I had not even noticed. Lord, when did I see you hungry and give you something to eat? Remember that sandwich? When did I ever help you? And Jesus said, “Remember that ride you gave me to Allison Hill?

C. Look into the face of the neediest and you will see the face of Jesus the King. So, who are the least of these that give you a chance to see the face of Jesus? What opportunities are you given as a church or as an individual to serve Jesus by serving them? You can’t save the whole world. But that does not excuse any of us from serving Jesus one needy person at a time. The King in glory is going to ask you one day about the time you did or did not help him.

D. In the movie, Field of Dreams, Ray Kinsella is told to build a ball- park in his Iowa cornfield. The voice says it is to ease his pain. The ghosts of ball players show up. One of them is Shoeless Joe Jackson. Another is Ray’s late father with whom he had a falling out that was never healed. Ray asks Joe if it was to ease the pain for his father. He said, “No Ray. It was for you.” When we are given a chance to ease the pain of one in need, it is for us.

IV. MOTIVE

A. There is no difference between honoring Jesus and honoring the homeless woman living under the bridge in a box. But why do we do it? Is it just because Jesus said we should? That’s a pretty good reason in and of itself. But there is more to it than just a command. And there is more to it than seeking credit from Jesus later.

B. One of the great parts of this parable is that the sheep who are honored by Jesus are surprised that they have helped Jesus or that they get credit for these acts of compassion. What? When did we ever see you needy and give you help? Oh that, well, that is just who we are. We don’t help the needy as a way of earning our way into heaven. That has already been taken care of by grace. This is our wellness check, a diagnostic tool, to see how we are responding to that grace.

C. We seek to serve the least of these without calculation or expectation of reward. We do it in our striving to see Jesus. Even though they may not look like kings. We do it because we are his disciples. We do it because that is who we are. That is who we are isn’t it?