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The Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew, the 25th Chapter

“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.”

I met my wife when we both worked at Coca-Cola in Atlanta.  She says she chased me until I caught her, which is pretty much the truth.  I had a long history with friends who happened to be girls and a desperately short list of girl-friends.  I assumed Kelly was another friend who happened to be a girl.  Eventually she gave up being subtle and I caught on.  After that, we began to build a wonderful relationship.  There are lots of things I could tell you about our relationship and a number of things I will not tell you about our relationship... but the part that relates to todays lesson is this:  Once I was caught, I was determined to grow more deeply into this amazing relationship.  I went with her to places I would not have otherwise gone, like that Halloween party where I was dressed like a hunter and she was dressed like a deer and we were perhaps the only straight couple there.  I was introduced to people I would not have otherwise EVER gotten to know like a very scary drag queen, also frighteningly named Kelly, who wasn’t scary because of her drag or because of her sexuality but was just... well, a scary person.  And I was challenged to love and have compassion for a growing number of people I was getting to know who had AIDS.  People who were loosing friends and partners in the AIDS epidemic... people who were grieving... people who expected they wouldn’t live another year... people that I would never have otherwise known.

Now it might, in hind sight, seem like I did something kind, compassionate or even loving, but the truth is, I didn’t go where I went, meet who I met or care for who I came to care for because I consciously decided to “be a good person” or to “be noble” or even to “make God like me”... I went where I went, met who I met and cared for who I cared for because, well... that’s where Kelly was going.  That’s who Kelly was meeting.  That’s who Kelly was caring for... I just tagged along, doing what she was doing because, well, I loved her.  

THAT is what’s happening in this parable.  The people that fed the hungry, gave the thirsty something to drink, clothed the naked, welcomed the stranger and visited the prisoner had NO IDEA that they were doing something good or noble or praiseworthy.  “When did we do THAT?” they say!  The ONLY thing they were doing was following Jesus around because Jesus had loved them and chased them until they caught him and now they just did whatever Jesus did, hung out with whoever Jesus hung out with and cared for those Jesus cared for without even a second thought... because they loved him!  

All of us... ALL of creation... ALL the sheep AND all the goats have been gathered together by the Good Shepherd.  EVERYONE without exception has been included in the saving power of Christ’s resurrection.  You and me and all of creation has been chased down and loved unconditionally whether you know it or not... whether you like it or not... whether you accept it or not... sheep and goats alike... those who do good and those who do evil... we’ve all been gathered together and caught up in God’s infinite embrace.   

This parable DOESN’T say, “Do good so Jesus will love you and you will get eternal life.”  This parable also DOESN’T say, “Fail to be good and you will burn with the devil in eternal fire” either.  THIS PARABLE SAYS, “God has chased you and caught you in God’s infinite, unconditional love!  Why not DIVE DEEPLY into that love and REALLY, REALLY experience the life you were made to LIVE!!”  This parable also says, “You know guys, we’ll all be able to tell when you dive deeply into this relationship, because you will go where Jesus went, do what Jesus did, care for the ones Jesus cared for... not to try to “be good” or “be noble” but just because you can’t help but want to tag along with the One you love and that's where he's at.”  It’s certainly tempting to praise those who do good with a promise of eternal life and it’s even more tempting to motivate those who are mean and cruel and hateful in this world with the threat of an eternal fire prepared for the devil and all his angels.  It’s tempting... IT’S SO TEMPTING... but it just isn’t the way God works! 

After Kelly and I got married we had two beautiful girls.  We loved them both unconditionally and completely.  They were perfect, but human.  There were things that were cut with scissors that should not have been cut with scissors.  There was biting, fighting...bath and bedtime battles.  There were creative stories told and even outright lies but none of what they did or didn’t do changed our love for them.  So, when it was still physically possible, we would scoop them up and hug them and hold them in that unconditional love and sometimes they would turn around and snuggle back, burying their heads into our necks, diving back deeply into the love we gave them and we were... all of us, truly alive.  There were other times, however, when it was physically possible, where we would scoop them up and hug them and hold them tight in that unconditional love and they would scream and fight and flail and cry and it was like holding onto a wildcat... and in those moments it felt... well, it felt like hell... for all of us.  

That’s the way God works.  You and I and all of creation... we were made perfect... but human.  We fight and bite and hate and lie and cheat and steal and fall infinitely short of the glory of God... and yet, in the power of the resurrection we are scooped up, sheep and goats, in the embrace of God’s unconditional, unlimited and infinite love.  THAT is the way God works.  The question, then, for you and me and all of creation is not whether or not we will confess the right words, do the right ritual in the right way, act the right way or believe the right ideas so that we will get eternal life.  The question for each and every one of us is will we turn around and dive deeply into the love we have already been given?  Will we turn around and snuggle into the love that has already scooped us up in an amazing embrace?  

This parable means that I just can’t honestly use the carrot of eternal life to motivate you to get out into the world and feed the hungry, give a drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, care for the sick or visit the prisoner.  I just can’t honestly use the stick of the threat of an eternal fire prepared for the devil and all his angels to make you care for the hungry, thirsty, stranger, sick or imprisoned.  I can’t even use any of that to get you to fill out that pledge card and support the work of the church!  All I can do is tell you again and again and again...  You have been chased...You have been caught...You are loved.  Dive in. Amen.