Christ the King, 11/26/2017

Sermon on Matthew 25:31-46, by Brad Everett

Whoever loves God, loves all that God loves

Think about that

Whoever loves God, loves all that God loves

Think about, think about that

Think about it

(Steve Bell Think About That)

Those are the lyrics to Canadian recording artist, Steve Bell’s song “Think About That” (from his 2014 album Pilgrimage). He said he fully intended to write verses for this song, but after playing what he had, the producer looked at him and said “It’s done. Leave it alone, there’s nothing else that needs to be said…”.

This lyric kept coming to mind while reading and reflecting on the Gospel for this Christ the King Sunday. The Son of Man comes in glory with angels to separate the people, one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, the sheep on his right and goats on his left. Those on the right are called to come and inherit the kingdom because when their Lord was hungry they gave him food, when thirsty they gave him something to drink, when a stranger they welcomed him, when naked they clothed him, when sick they cared for him, and when in prison they visited him. Those on the left are ordered to depart because they failed to care for the Lord when he was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, sick, naked or in prison.

Interestingly, both groups ask “Lord when was it that we saw you…?”—neither recognized him, yet both had totally different responses to what they did see.

Why?

Love—specifically love of God and by extension, love of everything and everyone that God loves.

Jesus mentions this earlier in St. Matthew’s Gospel, when he answers a Pharisee’s question about the greatest commandment, saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment, and the second is like it ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’” (Mt. 22:37-39). One who follows and keeps the greatest commandment can’t help but also follow and keep the second because to love God is to love everything, and everyone God loves.

What the sheep and goats did or didn’t do was testimony to their love of God and relationship with Him. Those who loved Him, who had received His grace and mercy, lived in that love and shared it for the glory of God and blessing of those around them. The deeds they did, the lives they lived, were not a means of earning merit or God’s favour, but were a natural product of having already received the mercy of God.

Those who didn’t love God, who rejected His grace and mercy, ignored that love, and their lives bore witness to that fact, regardless of the fact they called him Lord. Sure when faced with damnation, they asked for examples of their neglect of the Lord, when was he hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick or in prison—as if they might possibly manufacture an excuse to explain their behaviour, but the fact remained that rejection of their neighbour testified to their prior rejection of God.

“Whoever loves God, loves all that God loves—think about that”

Think about it. We have gathered here on this Christ the King Sunday, to affirm his Lordship of our lives. To profess, as this church year draws to a close and another is about to begin, that we will strive to serve Him and Him alone and not our own self-centred wants and whims. To declare that because Jesus Christ is our king, we will love Him with all our heart, soul and mind. But do our words and deeds bear witness to this professed love? Do we love all that God loves?

Well, being fallen sinful human beings we don’t—but at the very least do we struggle to love all that God loves, acknowledging the sin that gets in the way of that love and seek God’s forgiveness for that? That in and of itself is a tall order because there is no shortage of people, or things that while we may not outright hate, we may be comfortable dismissing or ignoring, neither of which is a reflection of God’s love.

This text calls us to reflect on our lives—do our words and deeds bear testimony to God’s love for us and our love for Him? Is love of God the motivation for how we live our lives or is there something else driving us, such as keeping up a desirable appearance to others, or attempting to engage in an exchange of sorts with God, figuring enough “good deeds” will earn us a place in the kingdom (hoping of course we are doing the necessary good deeds). When we discover some motivation other than God’s love driving our lives and what we think is our faith (and because we are sinful it’s not a question of if, but when), we are called to repent i.e. turn back to God and His love.

At this point many look at the list of deeds our Lord enumerates, and begin to worry that they haven’t accomplished it. But Jesus didn’t set this out as some sort of salvation “to-do list”. Rather it is an example of what it looks like to, as St. Augustine said “Love God and do what you please”. The sheep in the parable weren’t trying to complete a divinely issued checklist of good deeds, they were simply living out their love of God. Love of God, with all our heart, soul and mind can’t help but form and inform who we are and how we live. If we truly love God, what we desire will be according to His good and gracious will.

Love God. Receive the grace and mercy won for you by Christ the King’s death, resurrection and ascension, bestowed by baptism and renewed in the Eucharist and live the lives your King and blessed you to live. Do the works of mercy that are right in front of you. As you grow in your knowledge of God’s forgiveness to you, extend that same forgiveness to those you meet. As you hear the words of Scripture, liturgy, prayer and song tell of God’s love for you, tell others of that love who need to hear it (and BTW everyone needs to be reminded of this love in word and deed—those closest to you and complete strangers, pastors, parishioners, students, co-workers, bishops, street people, the old, the young, married, single or widowed, the fabulously wealthy and destitute poor—there is no one who would not be blessed to hear of God’s love).

As you consider what God in His infinite mercy has done and given you, in gratitude share your time, talents and treasure with those you encounter. Sometimes we get side-tracked wondering how to care for the needy on the other side of the world, or how to pull together huge, noteworthy projects locally—thinking that only such great and grand endeavours are worthy of God. That’s not to say we shouldn’t care for those far away, or dare to dream big, but very often the way God draws us to those works is by first engaging us in the need outside our front door. As we focus on our love of God, we can’t help but be led to circumstances and opportunities to share that love with others.

The sheep in the parable were so consumed by the love of God (His for them and theirs for Him) they were blissfully freed from the pressure to succeed or achieve (i.e. am I doing enough, is anyone noticing) and lived in the peace of the one they served—the peace our King won for us and blesses us with as his own as we live in His love.

“Whoever loves God loves all that God loves—think about that”

Pastor Brad Everett
Calgary, AB
E-Mail: everettsts@gmail.com

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