You Remember That Time....?

Matthew 25:31-46New International Version (NIV)

The Sheep and the Goats

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

I want to start with a quote from my go-to biblical commentator, William Barclay, “This is one of the most vivid parables Jesus ever spoke, and the lesson is crystal clear--that God will judge us in accordance with our reaction to human need. His judgment does not depend on the knowledge we have amassed, or the fame that we have acquired, or the fortune that we have gained, but on the help that we have given. And there are certain things which this parable teaches us about the help which we must give.”  As we are now in the heart of the holiday season, this scripture is a good reminder of “our reaction to human need.”  Relevant Magazine ran an online article that came out on Thanksgiving Day with stats about American Consumerism which stated that Americans will spend $57.4 Billion on Black Friday.  That number comes from one day.  The article states Americans give $103 Billion to churches over the course of the whole year.  Seems a little shocking that Americans spend over half as much on one day as they give in a whole year to their churches.  However, in June, Giving USA released the numbers for the year 2016 in which American individuals gave $281.86 Billion to U.S. charities and churches combined.  This is a 3.9% increase over 2015.  This means that less than half of the total giving by American individuals is given to their church.  If you are wondering about gifts to the religious community, it rose to an overall increase of 3% in 2016.  So giving has increased which indicates we are following Barclay’s advice of reacting to human need.

So this begs the question, why all the negativity?  Over the past year, you have heard me preach a lot about the negativity of society and our online interaction with one another.  Cheyanne, ear muffs, I don’t want you to hear me say this publicly, I stand before you today to tell you that I think I was wrong.  I had fallen into the trap.  I think there are folks who benefit financially from the perceived negativity.  Even Relevant, a magazine in which I respect and enjoy reading falls into that category.  Individual giving to religious organizations is still the largest aspect of giving, according to Giving USA, it’s percentage of growth was not as large as other sectors but overall, it is more than double the next category of individual giving which is education.  To borrow a phrase from Aaron Rodgers, we, myself included, need to R-E-L-A-X.  The negativity that surrounds us is mostly inflated because there is profit to made from it.  We have a tendency to think we are divided and I think we are more unified than we give ourselves credit for.  Again, I also fell into that trap.  I failed to see the hope.  I allowed myself to be swallowed up in the perceived negativity that I thought existed.  Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely areas we can improve on as a society but the picture is much more hopeful than the one I painted.  

There are more pressing issues than deserve our attention than this perceived negativity that has taken most of our current attention.  For example, CNN reported in September that opioid overdoses have shortened U.S. life expectancy by 2.5 months.  2.5 months doesn’t seem like a long time but when you think about the number of overdoses that have to occur to reduce such a number for every single American, it is kind of scary.  The numbers for 2016 still aren’t finalized, but when they are The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expect drug overdose deaths to top 64,000.  I don’t tell you this to try to squelch hope.  Rather, I tell you this because this epidemic is a far greater problem than our negative online interactions.  I tell you this because I want you to know that your reaction to the human need has never been compromised.  And I tell you that because I am proud of you.  In a sense, I have misled you because I chose to focus on something easy by using my time up here to tell you something you already knew.

Moving forward, don’t give into the negativity.  Don’t fall into the trap.  Pursue righteousness instead.  This does not give us a free pass to become lackadaisical.  What I find most interesting about the scripture for this morning is that both groups ask the same question, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison?”  Both groups failed to see the Son of Man.  However, the difference is remarkable.  One group fed, gave something to drink, invited in, clothed, looked after and visited while the other group did not.  Both groups had the same opportunity and only one helped the least of these.  This reminds us that the same exact opportunity lies before each of us in the days ahead.  As a congregation, I am proud of your choice to feed, give something to drink, invite in, clothe, look after and visit.  Dirk Lange, Associate Dean at Luther Theological Seminary, says, “...For the believing community.... Rather than considering themselves holders or keepers of the mystery of God, they discover that God is always already outside the circle they draw and the boundaries they create. Mission itself becomes redefined when we consider the move outwards as a move towards God! The community is sent out from the Lord's Supper as the body of Christ only to discover that the body of Christ is already waiting for the community in those suffering in the world. Then, in yet another Gospel reversal, it would appear that the judgment we are all subject to is not one from on high but a judgment that is spoken through the need of our neighbor.”  In 2018, I encourage us to focus our efforts in expanding our reach.  That is my challenge to each of you.  We don’t want to be a part of the group that was surprised by Christ because we didn’t help when we could have.  Rather, may we strive to be surprised because we helped and didn’t know Christ was there.