Christ the King – Last Sunday after Pentecost , 11/23/2014

Sermon on Matthew 25:31-46, by Carl A. Voges

The Passage

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who 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 drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, 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 no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, 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." [English Standard Version]

"I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you..." [Ephesians 1.16-18]

In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord

In a quiet, almost obscure way, the high significance of this Sunday in the Church's Year rolls slowly and powerfully into the Lord's parish communities. We know that the day brings the long Pentecost season to a close (having run nearly six months!). But the day also positions the Lord's people for the beginning of the Church's new year with the observance of Advent One a week from today as we pass from this year into the next one.

Today's high significance flows from two realities. The first is the surfacing of the Lord's Life in the Liturgy Sunday after Sunday. His Word pours out from the biblical readings while he surrounds his people with the remembrance of Baptism, the practice of Forgiveness and participation in the Eucharist. The other reality is how this day (the Last Sunday after Pentecost) became designated as the Festival of Christ the King.

The designation among Lutheran parishes received its impetus from the Lutheran Book of Worship when it was introduced in 1978. The festival originated in 1925 when Pope Pius XI established it for the Roman Catholic Church. What is intriguing to the Lutheran community are the reasons for this designation. Pius XI noted that there were two contexts confronting the Church: [1] The godlessness of the world's culture in the 1920s and; [2] The world's attempts to make a Christian's relationship with the Lord God a private matter. Recognizing that Christ is the King of universe countered both of these contexts. The contexts back then also included the rise of Mussolini in Italy, the emergence of the Nazi party in Germany and the economic impulses giving rise to the Great Depression in the United States.

In the 1920s people were being battered and confused by the harsh realities of the world's life. Nearly a hundred years later that same confusion and battering exists. We knew then as we know now that the origins of such realities flow from the natural desire of all people for one's self. The names describing the world's harsh realities have changed but their destructive and deadly impact continues. Celebrating this day as the Festival of Christ the King, however, reminds us that the Lord God continues to bring his rescuing and sustaining Life through the Liturgy to all those people being battered and confused. As Lutherans in the Church Catholic, we recognize that this activity is always streaming into our lives from the Lord's Scriptures and Sacraments.

Today's Gospel, then, does two things - it gives us an advance look at what is going to occur at the End-of-Time . But it also reveals what happens every Sunday when the Lord God brings the Scriptures and Sacraments into his parish communities. Many people, including those baptized, cannot be bothered with this look and this reality, but we will discover that the smart thing is to bother with it!

First, the advance look. This passage describes the End-of-Time when the Lord Jesus Christ is at the center of everything in the universe. All of the world's people will be gathered in front of him and he will separate people one from another, placing them to his right and to his left (recall that the right is an honored position). This work is similar to that of a herdsman as he separates sheep from goats. The contrasts between the animals have some significance - sheep are dependent, requiring more care of their shepherds; goats are independent, requiring less care from their herders.

The Lord Christ says to those on his right - Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Note that this blessing first took place at their Baptisms when they were drawn into the Trinity's Life, now it is being completed as they pass through the world's death into the Father's Life.

Note, too, the basis of this blessing: they gave Christ Jesus food when he was hungry and something to drink when he was thirsty; they welcomed him when he was a stranger and gave him clothing when he was naked; they took care of him when he was sick and visited him in prison.

Jesus' comments puzzle the blessed because they had no idea they were doing these things to Christ Jesus. When they question him about it, his answer is revealing, 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. The biblical word, "least, " means the "smallest, very little, very insignificant." It refers to people who, by world's standards, don't have much standing and whose accomplishments do not catch the world's attention.

The action then shifts to the people on the left side of the Lord Christ. They are cursed by Christ Jesus, and thrown out of his presence into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels: they did not feed Christ when he was hungry or give him something to drink when he was thirsty; they did not welcome him as a stranger and did not give him clothing when he was naked; they did not visit him when he was sick and in prison.

Jesus' comments puzzle the cursed because they had no idea they were not doing these things. When they question Christ Jesus about it, his answer is just as revealing, 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. The biblical word, "cursed," is put on people who are separated from their relationship with the Lord God. This separation is real and is maintained by the realities of sin, Satan and death.

How does this passage impact our lives today as we pass from one year to the next while recognizing how the world's life confuses and batters people? This is a difficult question. On the one hand, our Lord's comments suggest that we should keep track of all these situations and measure how we perform in them. This tracking could be done on a daily, weekly or monthly basis (hopefully, the number of sick visits would compensate for the lack of prison visits!). But, if we perform well with the list, surely our accomplishments would grab our Lord's attention and cause him to pour his Life upon us!

Do you see what happens when we work with such an understanding? Suddenly we're making ourselves the center of everything, suddenly we're making our salvation the result of our doing! Clearly, the suggestion that we track all these situations and measure our performance in them is not the way to act on Jesus' comments!

On the other hand, our Lord's comments suggest that we recognize another level of meaning in these circumstances and thus be fully exposed to the impact of our Lord's words. Let's consider the first two situations - being hungry and thirsty. We recognize that these are obvious physical realities in the lives of people. But we also recognize that hunger and thirst are also caused by us feeding exclusively on the world's gods. Those gods promise to nourish and sustain us, but all they do is empty us! Thankfully, the Lord's crucified and resurrected Life crosses that emptiness and fills it!

Consider the next two situations - being a stranger and naked. As people pull into themselves, the relationships with others deteriorate. They know less and less of us, and strangers are created! As people pull into themselves, they become consumed with the wrappings of their lives. The wrappings may look decent and attractive, but underneath there is nothing! Thankfully, the Lord's crucified and resurrected Life crosses such emptiness and fills it!

Then there are the last two situations - being sick and in prison. There are staggering numbers of people who are trapped either by disease or by being caught for pushing their natural drive for self. They try to squirm out of those traps by intensifying their own efforts along with those of others, or by waving off any responsibility for their actions. Tragically and pathetically, such traps only run on and on and on! Thankfully, the Lord's crucified and resurrected Life crosses that emptiness and fills it!

Now we understand more fully the high significance to this Day! As we pass from one year into the next we also recognize the battering and confusion that the world's life pushes onto its people. This glimpse of the End-of-Time makes it extremely clear that those people on the Lord's left veer off from his eternal presence - permanently, while those people on the Lord's right veer off into his eternal presence - permanently! At the same time, the Church's Liturgy, Sunday after Sunday, makes it just as clear that, from the holy places of the Scriptures and the Sacraments, the Lord's Life is steadily making its way into the world's life, rescuing the world's confused and battered people, marking them as the Lord's daughters and sons, and holding their lives in his until the End-of-Time!

Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord.

Pr. Carl A. Voges
Columbia, SC
E-Mail: carl.voges4@icloud.com

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