Matthew 25:31-46
“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 am an Astronaut! I am! Pick up any astronaut manual and that will tell you how I see the world! From SPACE! That's how! My whole life flows out of the fact that I am an Astronaut! I regularly use words like Galaxy, Orbit, Trajectory, Space, Mission, and Re-entry as well as many other words you can also find in the Astronaut manual… I do! I have posters of rockets and stuff on my walls. I… AM… AN… ASTRONAUT! I’m saying that very confidently, forcefully… insistently even… but I’m getting the sense from all of you that you don’t believe me! This is my LIFE! This is my core belief! This is my reason for being! THIS IS WHO I AM! I AM AN ASTRONAUT! How could you question that!?
Perhaps you’re questioning it because… I’ve never ridden in a rocket? Because I’ve never piloted a shuttle or even been in charge of watching mold grow in space? I’ve not spent even one second in the International Space Station. I have absolutely NO connection to NASA, or any of the billionaires’ space programs. I have never been in zero gravity, nor on the moon, nor ever walked in space. Might it be that you question my claim of being an astronaut because I just don’t DO any of the actual, physical, stuff that astronauts actually, physically do? Are you saying that even though I might claim to be an astronaut, use the words that astronauts use all the time, even put up posters and giant model rockets and icons of space stuff all over the place… that alone doesn’t make me an astronaut? Could THAT be the reason you question my claim to be an astronaut? Huh!
So if you won’t let me get away with claiming to be an Astronaut, simply because I don’t DO the things that Astronauts do, then why do we not confront people who continue to claim to be Christian, even though they do not do the things that Christians actually do? Because here in this parable we have a list, straight from the Messiah’s mouth, of what Christians do: Christians give food to the hungry. They give drinks to the thirsty. Christians see a stranger and they welcome them. They give clothes to people without clothes. Christians take care of the sick. They visit people in prison.
As it turns out, it really makes no difference whatsoever how many times you say random vocabulary words that people associate with Christianity… words like Bible, Values, Church, Belief, Commandments, Decency, or even the word Jesus for that matter. It makes no difference whatsoever how many crosses hang on your wall, what stickers you have on your truck, or how big the billboard is you put up along an interstate. It makes no difference if you hold up a Bible outside of a church for a photo op, or plant a granite copy of the ten commandments on a courthouse lawn. ALL that matters. ALL THAT MATTERS. All that matters is whether or not you are feeding the hungry, giving something to drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick and visiting those who are in prison. If you’re not doing THOSE things then your claim of being a Christian is as good as my claim of being an Astronaut… and don’t EVEN get me started on what you are if you’re actively doing the OPPOSITE of those things… working to starve the hungry, take water from the thirsty, round up the stranger, keep the sick from getting care, and throwing people in prison. It is DOING what Jesus did for the “least of these” around us that makes us a Christian. It is DOING what we have been asked to do by Christ the King as loyal subjects of the Kingdom of God that makes us a Christian.
There was a recent article in Christianity Today where the author told of a number of evangelical pastors who, after reading the Sermon on the Mount and preaching on that text were confronted by people in their congregations. These pastors were asked “What they were doing preaching those liberal talking points!?” When told they came from Jesus, the congregation members weren’t ashamed or embarrassed. Instead, they told their preacher, “that way doesn’t work anymore… it’s weak!” Now, I will certainly defend their right to call the directives of Christ the King weak and ineffective. BUT you just can’t do that AND be a Christian!
We sit here today at the end of the long journey over the broad expanse of green called the Season after Pentecost. We sit here, right on the edge. Just over there we can see the narrow strip of blue that make up the season of Advent. Much shorter than the Season After Pentecost and this year, even shorter! When we get up today at the ending of one season, and walk this week toward the new beginning of Advent, I’m wondering if this year might be a good year to remember back to when Advent was Purple and was seen as a time of repentance. Back then, Advent was less about the anticipation of Christmas, and more a time of turning around. A time of turning around from a faith that has the substance of a light up Christmas lawn inflatable and instead preparing for the Newborn King, by doing for “the least of these” those things Christ The King has called us to do as Christians. What does that look like? It's something to think about in this week to come. Amen.
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