Already and Not Yet
Matthew 25: 31-46
Rev. Dr. Mary Alice Mulligan
We spent a long time in the season of Pentecost. Lots of us wore red and decked the furniture in red on Pentecost Sunday, which was May 28th. The very next Sunday, the paraments on the Communion table, the pulpit and lectern, and the preacher’s stole were green, symbolizing the growth of the church, for the six long months of the Pentecost Season. On this the last Sunday of the liturgical year, we switch to white, to celebrate the victorious Reign of Christ. One of our seminary professors always calls it Christ the Cosmic Ruler Sunday. We should have a whoop it up reminder that Christ reigns victorious over sin and death and God will have God’s way in the End. So every year we get to celebrate the Reign of Christ on the last Sunday of the liturgical year – which is today. When we gather to worship next Sunday, a new year will begin. But today, on this final Sunday of the liturgical year, we pause to celebrate the power of Christ over all and Christ’s commitment to compassion for the least. To assist our celebration, today we hear Jesus paint a picture of his vision of the end of this present age. Listen for the word of God in the passage below from the Gospel of Matthew.
“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. 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, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 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; 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, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 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? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 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.’ 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; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 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.’ 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?’ 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.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” - Matthew 25:31-46
God’s future is surprising. No one is able to predict what will happen in God’s future. In the scene Jesus paints, everyone is shocked. No one suspected everyone would be judged like this. Certainly the goat people are shocked. Can’t you just hear them? “What do you mean you were hungry and we ignored you? We would do anything for you, Lord.” “If we had known you were one of those foreigners, we would have been more welcoming.” They can’t believe there is judgement against them.
But sheep people show similar surprise. They don’t remember serving the Lord. They didn’t see Jesus in the face of the poor. They just took care of people in need. “Certainly that wasn’t you, Lord; they were just someone whose pain a little compassion could alleviate.” Everyone is caught off guard, although they should know some First Testament passages indicate a time of judgement will come. But Matthew 25 is the only New Testament scene of God’s tallying of the nations. Other New Testament passages paint different pictures of the end, some claiming Christ embraces everyone. So, people cannot be certain what God plans for later.
If you glanced at Matthew chapters 24 and 25 during the week, you read parables of waiting which Matthew collected for the early church as they wondered when Jesus would return. The parables of waiting always encourage right action while waiting. No one is supposed to sit around twiddling their thumbs. And the other trait the parables always include is? Surprise. “What? Lord, what do you mean we earn the same amount as those slackers who only worked an hour during the coolest part of the day?” “Lord, you can’t possibly be disappointed that I buried your cash. I returned 100% of your money to you.” When the line is drawn under the present age, everyone is taken off guard. Parables show no one was able to predict accurately what will be in God’s future. The one certainty is: God will surprise everyone.
So instead, let’s focus on right living now. We know what God wants of us. After all, the Bible isn’t written to whisper secrets of God’s final plan. Rather, the Bible is given to guide our lives now. One scholar says: “No coherent picture emerges [of the end] because the texts are designed to foster right behavior, not to offer a cartography of future states.”[i] Jesus’ stories show us how to live in the present, teaching us to pay attention to those whom society ignores, to take care of those who are lost, and to figure out sustainable livelihoods for the poor. In other words, Jesus teaches us how to grow into his likeness by serving the ones he served in divine love.
But we have to admit sometimes we are the people in need. And other times our lives are so chaotic we resemble the goats, focusing only on our own needs. Then Jesus’ teaching can comfort and strengthen us, even hold us until we can again move toward being compassionate as Jesus teaches us to be. Scripture shows us that God’s heart always moves towards the foreigner, the hungry, those who struggle. So if we draw near in compassionate action towards the least, even when we are not feeling very strong ourselves, we will be drawing near to the heart of God.
Some years ago, a pastor in a wealthy suburban neighborhood, learned there were children in their school district sleeping on the floor at home, so he made a deal with a local furniture store to purchase 60 mattresses at $50 a piece (a tax break for the owner and a dream come true for the children). People in his congregation were shocked to learn children in their community were sleeping on the floor. They began to donate toward those 60 mattresses. Other congregations joined in. They distributed 60 mattresses by Thanksgiving through children’s service connections. By Christmas, they had another shipment because members got 4 friends to each donate $10, and there’s a mattress. A child off the floor. Easy, because the teachings of Jesus show our hearts how to become more compassionate, full of God’s generosity, for daily living in this world. Jesus shows us how we are to live now.
Because Christ already reigns. Jesus Christ is ruler of the universe, from before the foundation of the earth. We know the story. The One who, out of love for humankind, has become the incarnate Word of God; walked among us, was crucified to witness to God’s unconditional love for us; is also the one who burst forth from the grave alive in divine glory and has been exalted above the heavens and the earth. We could even say the whole liturgical year moves towards today’s recognition that Jesus Christ is Ruler of all.
But our passage also indicates Jesus identifies in the least. When his followers serve those in need, Jesus says, “You are serving me.” Monarch of the Universe and present among those stuck in front of a television in a nursing home wheelchair, or locked in cells on death row, or standing in line for services at Resurrection House.
We might not understand fully the power and humility of Christ, but on this day, we are reminded that we belong to the One who is both LORD and least. Our commitment is to the One who loves us more than we can imagine, who is committed to sending his Holy Spirit throughout Earth to empower acts of compassion, stunning generosity, and gentle kindness. Every person is part of his beloved people, whether they claim him or not. And our belief is that, even though we cannot articulate what the future will be, God’s final triumph is assured.
We can get too caught up in future thinking: What it will be like when Jesus comes back? How we will praise him when we get to heaven? People get so excited thinking about questions they plan to ask when they get into his presence someday, or how they will worship, or how they will explain themselves. But the reality is: if we plan to honor him after we die, then we need to honor him now. Our current behaviors reflect whether or not we actually consider him our Monarch (or whether we just plan to run our life in our own way). Here’s the way Christians could see it. In Jesus Christ the presence of God exists. All of God’s purposes find fulfillment in him. Now. So, our lives should reflect it. Jesus Christ reigns.
On this final Sunday of the liturgical year, we may want to make a commitment or a recommitment to God as revealed through Jesus Christ, not to save us from some after-death punishment, but as a recognition that we want our lives to be moving toward the vision God sets before us through the life and teachings of Jesus. As we work to carry out Jesus’ teachings, we are helping little moments of the Reign of Christ to manifest, which means we are catching glimpses of the full Realm of God. What a great idea for the Sunday of the Reign of Christ.
[i] The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Abingdon, 2007), vol 2, “Eschatology of the NT,” 297.