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"WHEN?”
Christ the King –
A
November 23, 2008
Matthew
25:31-46
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.Dateline: Washington, D.C. The President returned to the White House today after being away from the Capital for several weeks. His private Air Force jet was greeted upon arrival by all the top dignitaries of the Pentagon, representing each branch of the armed forces. Behind closely guarded fences were several hundred school children, waving flags and carrying signs saying, “We love you, Mr. President!” As he stepped off the plane, all who were present burst into applause, while the band played, “Hail to the Chief.” The President, waving to all of his admirers, quickly entered his private limousine and was whisked away to the White House. This popular president, on one videotaped occasion, looked over the podium at guests who had paid $800 a plate to attend a fund-raiser banquet with him, and said, “This is an impressive crowd; the haves and the have-mores. Some people call you the elites; I call you my base.” (October 20, 2000) Dateline: Jerusalem. The itinerant Jewish rabbi, called by the name of Jesus, was crucified today, flanked on either side by two criminals. The lack of followers to witness the event supports the charge that he was a fake. Called “The King of the Jews,” he nevertheless died meekly and quietly, making no show of kingly authority or power. Deserted by his political base, he died in the presence of a crowd of the curious, amid the contemptuous derision of the leaders of his own religion, while the prison guards taunted him and gambled over his few meager belongings. One of the criminals, crucified at his side, used his dying breath to heap insults on him. Jesus looked out over those responsible for putting him to death and said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus of Nazareth, “King of the Jews,” officially dishonored -- and dead -- at the age of thirty-three. Christ, the King? I don’t know about you, but when I hear and see the great discrepancies in the world -- the unimaginably wealthy and the unimaginably destitute, the free and the oppressed, the accepted and the despised, the children of the world who have never known in their short lives one single day without war, one single day with a full and satisfied tummy – I start to wonder in earnest: WHEN Jesus is going to come again? King Jesus, where is your Kingdom? This morning’s disturbing gospel reading from Matthew 25 turns that question on its ear, and then answers it. Although no human knows “when” Jesus will come again (in Matthew 24 Jesus says that even he doesn’t know when), Scripture does promise that He will finally reappear in His glory, bring all the angels with Him, and demonstrate His power over every enemy. Scripture also makes no reference to the “where” of this second coming. It only states that Jesus will sit on His glorious throne, gather before Him all the nations, and demonstrate once and for all that He is not a disinterested witness to the events of history, but the Judge of all humanity. Jesus tells this parable, sitting unknown and unnoticed on the Mount of Olives, on His way to a lonely crucifixion. What no one knows then, is that this same Jesus will, in the end, be the great and eternal King over all the nations, over all time. As we read His parable carefully, we discover that the Kingdom welcome He offers is all about forgiving, welcoming grace – “Come, O blessed of My Father,” he says; that is, God has done it all; “inherit the Kingdom,” he says; that is, the Kingdom is a gift, not a matter of deserving or merit; “prepared for you” – not by you; “from the foundation of the world” – when we were not even around yet. Jesus’ parable goes on to describe an interesting scene: when the Son of Man comes, He will separate the sheep from the goats, placing the sheep at His right hand, the goats at His left. To this day in the Middle East, herds of sheep and goats mingle and graze together each day. When they are moved to fresh pasture, or when sheep are due for shearing or goats for milking, or when evening falls and the goats must be provided with shelter to cope with the cold of night, they are separated. Each shepherd, each goatherd, will stand apart from the mixed herd, and call out his own sheep or his own goats. These animals know the voice of their own shepherd or goatherd, and separate themselves, following the voice of their “master.” Any listener paying attention would eagerly want to know: who are the sheep; who are the “blessed” ones, and why do they receive this word of eternal welcome? The answer is given in six simple sentences which, with only the slightest variation, Jesus repeats four times in this one parable:
We are not to be distracted by speculating on “when” Christ the King will come again, but on the fact that God’s Eternal Kingdom has already broken into history by his resurrection from the dead. It is not yet fulfilled, but we are to live now as we will in eternity when the Kingdom is fulfilled, when we will all live in the endless love and peace of God. The second half of the parable gets a little darker. Those at Jesus’ left hand – the goats -- are not blessed. In addressing them, Jesus says, “depart” and “cursed.” The reason for their dismissal is, by now, not a surprise. Jesus was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, and in prison – and they did absolutely nothing. They are as mystified as the blessed, the righteous, asking, “When did we do that to You? If we had known it was you…” The answer is devastating: “Just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” The righteous life of which this parable speaks makes no mention of miracle workers, exorcists, visionaries, prophets, preachers, speakers in tongues. The righteous life this parable reflects is a life-on-earth vision of Paul’s hymn of love in 1 Corinthians 13 – though I can do all the great spiritual works (speak in tongues, preach to bring people to tears, move mountains, if I am wise and profoundly knowledgeable about things that most people can’t even begin to understand) – but have not love, I’m just a lot of noise. What does this love look like, we ask? This is not the love of romance novels and sentimental holiday movies, but the harder love, the stronger love, the nonjudgmental, get-your-hands-dirty love of Jesus:
When will Jesus come again? In a very real sense, He has already come. He is already present not only in each one of us, but in the poor and needy – who are odd, and often unwelcome, signs of His presence. He is present not only at our Thanksgiving tables this week, but also among the ones who probably won’t be gathering around a table laden with a great feast this week or any week soon. In whom have you seen Jesus Christ, this uncommon King, lately? Amen. Resource: Harry Wendt, November podcast, Crossways International, Minn., MN Rev. Joan Gunderman, Senior Pastor
Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa, Minnesota |
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